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OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong><br />
FROM WATER TO<br />
ENERGY: CO-OPS<br />
RESPOND TO A CRISIS<br />
Plus … Co-ops pay tribute to<br />
the Queen ... a report from the<br />
international Co-op Housing<br />
Symposium ... More changes<br />
at the top for the Co-op Group<br />
ISSN 0009-9821<br />
770009 982010<br />
01<br />
£4.20<br />
www.thenews.coop
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Co-ops and their communities<br />
brace for the energy crisis<br />
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND<br />
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP<br />
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871<br />
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,<br />
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EXECUTIVE EDITOR<br />
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INTERNATIONAL EDITOR<br />
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DIRECTORS<br />
Elaine Dean (chair); David Paterson<br />
(vice-chair); Sofygil Crew; Tim Hartley;<br />
Phil Hartwell; Gillian Lonergan; Nick<br />
Milton; Beverley Perkins; Shaz<br />
Rahman; Lesley Reznicek<br />
Secretary: Richard Bickle<br />
Established in 1871, Co-operative<br />
News is published by Co-operative<br />
Press Ltd, a registered society under<br />
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the opinion of Co-operative News.<br />
@coopnews<br />
cooperativenews<br />
CBP013875<br />
With soaring energy bills adding to the cost of living crisis around the world,<br />
we have taken a closer look at its impact on co-operatives.<br />
Among the worst hit are small co-ops in the food sector, with co-op grocers<br />
like Wild Thyme Wholefoods in Portsmouth and Rice up Wholefoods in<br />
Southampton forced to close (p40-41). Community pubs such as the Bevy in<br />
Brighton are trying to address business challenges while supporting local<br />
communities through lunch clubs and free kids’ activities (p38-39).<br />
Larger co-op retailers in the UK and beyond have launched initiatives<br />
to support members, customers and employees with rising costs – with<br />
discounts on essential products, employee bonuses and free meals<br />
(p42-43). Meanwhile Co-op Group members and customers are being<br />
invited to take part in Join in Live, a national conversation about policy and<br />
priorities in these challenging times (p44-45).<br />
Paul Gosling explores how credit unions act as alternatives to high-cost<br />
payday lenders, with membership rising to an all-time high of 1.93 million<br />
(p36-37). Credit unions are also joining efforts with charities to provide free<br />
financial training (p34-35).<br />
We also look at how co-ops are retrofitting homes by providing site analysis,<br />
renovations, guidance and funding (p32-33) – and at the impact of the<br />
energy crisis on energy co-ops and their members (p30-31).<br />
The crisis comes on top of existing problems. In Jackson, Mississippi, where<br />
residents were left without drinking water, a network of worker co-ops is<br />
proposing co-op solutions to empower the local community (p28-29).<br />
In Zurich, co-ops already offer solutions to housing shortages, with co-op<br />
providers accounting for 25% of apartments in the city. The international coop<br />
housing movement met in the Swiss capital to explore how others might<br />
learn from its pioneering initiatives (p26-27). And we take a look at a slice<br />
of housing co-op history, with a project designed by Antoni Gaudi (p46-47).<br />
In the news, we have a special report on how co-ops paid tribute to Queen<br />
Elizabeth II after her death (p6-7).<br />
Co-ops can and do make a difference in many sectors. Yet, as the crisis<br />
accentuates, many will need adequate regulatory frameworks and financial<br />
support to continue their positive work.<br />
ANCA VOINEA - INTERNATIONAL EDITOR<br />
Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based inks<br />
on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer waste)<br />
with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC certified<br />
sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 3
ISSN 0009-9821<br />
9 770009 982010<br />
01<br />
THIS ISSUE<br />
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:<br />
Co-ops pay tribute to the Queen (p6-7);<br />
European co-ops respond to Ursula von<br />
der Leyen’s State of the Union speech<br />
(p14); the co-op connections of architect<br />
Antoni Gaudi (p46-48); community pub<br />
the Bevy continues its efforts through<br />
the cost-of-living crisis (p38-39);<br />
Lambeth GP Food Co-op garden (p22-23)<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong><br />
FROM WATER TO<br />
ENERGY: CO-OPS<br />
RESPOND TO A CRISIS<br />
Plus … Co-ops pay tribute to<br />
the Queen ... a report from the<br />
international Co-op Housing<br />
Symposium ... More changes<br />
at the top for the Co-op Group<br />
www.thenews.coop<br />
£4.20<br />
COVER: Co-operation Jackson<br />
The US worker co-op network takes<br />
action on the water crisis in its home city<br />
Read more: p28-29<br />
22-23 MEET ...EDWARD ROSEN<br />
Project director, Lambeth GP Food Co-op<br />
25 WAYS FORWARD CONFERENCE Preview<br />
of this month’s event<br />
26-27 CO-OP HOUSING SYMPOSIUM<br />
Report from the conference of the world’s<br />
housing co-ops in Zurich<br />
28-29 JACKSON’S FIGHT FOR WATER<br />
Co-operation Jackson takes a stand<br />
against infrastructure neglect in the US city<br />
30-43 ENERGY CRISIS<br />
With soaring fuel prices threatening<br />
economies and living standards around<br />
the world, how are co-ops responding?<br />
30-31 ENERGY CO-OPS<br />
Reaction from some key players in the<br />
sector as energy bills soar<br />
32-33 SAVE HEAT, SAVE THE WORLD<br />
Co-ops take the lead in retrofitting the<br />
UK’s draughty housing stock<br />
34-37 CREDIT UNION FRONTLINE<br />
Anca Voinea takes a look at the sector’s<br />
response to the crisis, followed by<br />
analysis from Paul Gosling<br />
38-39 LOCAL SERVES UP SUPPORT<br />
Brighton community pub The Bevy is<br />
stepping up its local support work<br />
40-41 HARD TIMES FOR GROCERIES<br />
Worker co-ops in the independent food<br />
retail sector face a perfect storm of rising<br />
costs and falling trade<br />
42-43 BENEFITS OF CO-OPERATION<br />
A look at what co-ops are doing to help<br />
workers and members through the crisis<br />
44-45 CO-OP GROUP REACHES OUT<br />
A preview of the Join In Live events – in<br />
London, Glasgow and online – where the<br />
retailer will discuss the way forward with<br />
its members<br />
46-48 GAUDI’S CO-OP VISION<br />
The architect, famed for his church<br />
buildings, also designed a community<br />
building for co-op workers in Catalonia<br />
REGULARS<br />
5-13 UK news<br />
14-21 Global news<br />
24 Letters<br />
50 Events<br />
4 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
NEWS<br />
RETAIL<br />
Management shake-up at Co-op Group as food chief Whitfield quits<br />
The Co-op Group has announced a new<br />
leadership structure for its convenience<br />
and wholesale operations.<br />
The announcement comes as Food CEO<br />
Jo Whitfield revealed her decision to leave<br />
the business, after five years in the role<br />
and six years overall at the Group.<br />
Whitfield announced a four-month<br />
career break in February to help her sons<br />
with their GCSEs and A Levels.<br />
Matt Hood, former commercial director<br />
at the Group, will become managing<br />
director of Co-op Food, responsible for<br />
both the commercial and operational<br />
areas of the business.<br />
Michael Fletcher who has led the<br />
Group-owned wholesale arm Nisa, is also<br />
stepping down from his role and Peter<br />
Batt, a former managing director of Coop’s<br />
regional stores in the south, has been<br />
appointed managing director of Nisa.<br />
Group chair Allan Leighton said: “Jo has<br />
decided that this is the right time to move<br />
on and pursue her next challenge.<br />
“During her time with us, Jo has led<br />
a re-invention of our Food business.<br />
She always put colleagues first and<br />
championed colleague safety. She leaves<br />
the Co-op with our warmest wishes and<br />
deepest thanks for everything she has<br />
delivered for our colleagues, members<br />
and customers.”<br />
CEO Shirine Khoury-Haq said: “I wish to<br />
express my thanks to Jo for all that she has<br />
achieved and wish her all the best in the<br />
next chapter of her career.<br />
“I am delighted to announce that Matt is<br />
our new managing director of Co-op Food<br />
with both the commercial and operational<br />
areas reporting into him and he will<br />
ensure we remain leaders in convenience.<br />
p Jo Whitfie d is leaving the Group after ix years<br />
We have an incredibly strong team, an<br />
established position to build from and<br />
the hunger and opportunity to achieve so<br />
much more in the years ahead.”<br />
She added: “Michael Fletcher is also<br />
leaving his role as Nisa CEO in early<br />
<strong>October</strong> and will then pursue a new career<br />
path, supporting multiple businesses. He<br />
leaves behind a huge legacy.<br />
“Peter Batt will take over from Michael<br />
with immediate effect to allow a managed<br />
handover with Michael. Peter has<br />
extensive experience in retail and trading,<br />
having been our divisional managing<br />
director in the south, and brings with<br />
him both commercial and operational<br />
experience from his roles outside Co-op.<br />
“I have the utmost confidence that Peter<br />
will hit the ground running to support our<br />
Nisa partners.”<br />
Forecourts sold<br />
In other news from the Group, it was<br />
announced at the end of August that it is<br />
selling its petrol forecourt estate to Asda<br />
for £600m.<br />
The transaction, due to complete by<br />
the end of the year, will involve 129 petrol<br />
forecourt sites throughout the UK, which<br />
represents 5% of the organisation’s estate<br />
of 2,564 stores.<br />
“This transaction is in line with our<br />
strategy to move away from operating<br />
petrol forecourts and supports our vision<br />
of ‘Co-operating for a fairer world’ while<br />
building our core leading convenience<br />
business,” said Khoury-Haq.<br />
“I would like to thank our incredible<br />
colleagues in these stores, and we will<br />
work closely with Asda to ensure a smooth<br />
transition.”<br />
Asda will pay £438m in cash and take<br />
on responsibility for the Group’s lease<br />
payments which total about £162m.<br />
Around 2,300 Co-op petrol station staff<br />
will be moved to Asda’s employment.<br />
Asda said the purchase is part of plans<br />
to move into the convenience market,<br />
feeding in to its “long-term ambition<br />
to become the UK’s second-largest<br />
supermarket”.<br />
The Group said the sale of non-core<br />
petrol forecourt businesses will enable it<br />
to “focus on core convenience proposition<br />
whilst significantly deleveraging and<br />
strengthening the Group’s balance sheet”.<br />
It added that proceeds from the sale<br />
will be reinvested in the core convenience<br />
business and its growing wholesale,<br />
franchise and e-commerce operations,<br />
including new stores in the heart of more<br />
communities.<br />
It will also be invested in the<br />
organisation’s pricing, store operations,<br />
technology, and logistics, and support the<br />
reduction of the Group’s net debt.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 5
QUEEN ELIZABETH II<br />
Co-ops pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II<br />
Co-operators in the UK were among those<br />
sending condolences to the Royal Family<br />
following the death last month of Her<br />
Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.<br />
The Queen, who died on 8 September<br />
aged 96, had visited Rochdale in 1994 for<br />
the 150th anniversary of the founding of<br />
the Rochdale Pioneers’ Toad Lane store.<br />
“The Queen and Prince Philip both<br />
went to the exhibition held at what is now<br />
Touchstones, which was up for the whole<br />
p Home Magazine – Editor’s letter on the<br />
occasion of the Queen’s coronation (Image:<br />
Co-operative Heritage Trust)<br />
year, with information and activities<br />
about the development of the co-operative<br />
movement,” says Gillian Lonergan, co-op<br />
historian. “It was decided that they should<br />
go to Touchstones as there was more space<br />
for people to gather and meet them rather<br />
than at Toad Lane; the necessary security<br />
precautions precluded visiting both sites.”<br />
The Queen also visited Manchester<br />
in 2013, when she officially opened the<br />
Co-operative Group’s new head office at<br />
One Angel Square – which at the time<br />
was the greenest building in the world.<br />
Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh,<br />
the Queen toured the building before<br />
unveiling a plaque to mark the formal<br />
opening of the 14-storey building and<br />
signing the visitor’s book. Prince Philip<br />
had opened the CIS building in 1962.<br />
“On behalf of the Co-op Group I would<br />
like to offer our deepest condolences to<br />
the Royal Family, following the news<br />
about the passing of Her Royal Highness,<br />
the Queen,” wrote Group CEO, Shirine<br />
Khoury-Haq, on Twitter. “Our thoughts<br />
are with the Royal Family, and we join<br />
all others who will be reflecting on her<br />
historic reign.”<br />
Tributes were paid by other cooperative<br />
retail societies including<br />
Midcounties Co-operative and Central<br />
England Co-operative, while the Coop<br />
Party announced it would suspend<br />
p The CWS celebrates the Queen’s coronation<br />
(Image: Co-operative Heritage Trust)<br />
all campaign activity and events until<br />
further notice as a mark of respect.<br />
“We are deeply saddened to hear of<br />
the passing of Her Majesty the Queen,”<br />
said Jim McMahon MP, chair of the Cooperative<br />
Party.<br />
“She has served our country with<br />
distinction over the past 70 years, and in<br />
the coming days, our nation will come<br />
together to mourn and remember her<br />
extraordinary contribution to British life. I<br />
send the thoughts and condolences of our<br />
Party and our movement to her family.”<br />
Rose Marley, Co-operatives UK CEO,<br />
said: “Queen Elizabeth II had an affinity<br />
and connection with co-operatives ... Like<br />
co-operatives, Her Royal Highness had<br />
an enduring presence and adaptability -<br />
the ability to reinvent oneself even as the<br />
world transforms around you.<br />
“Her staying power; her dignity; her<br />
quiet effectiveness... Her Royal Highness,<br />
Queen Elizabeth II was a low-key, but<br />
u The Queen opening One Angel Square,<br />
home of the Co-operative Group’s<br />
headquarters, in 2013 (Im age: the<br />
Co-operative Group)<br />
t The Queen on a visit to Rochdale in 1994<br />
(Image: Co-operative Heritage Trust)<br />
6 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
unifying force across the UK. She will be<br />
missed by many but not forgotten.”<br />
It was a co-operative – St Cuthbert’s<br />
Co-operative Association, now part of<br />
Scotmid – which held the royal warrant<br />
for coachbuilding from the mid 1960s,<br />
working on the royal coaches.<br />
And it was a co-operative which<br />
received one of the final Queen’s Awards<br />
issued before she died.<br />
HM Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire<br />
presented the Queen’s Award for<br />
Enterprise for Sustainable Development<br />
to the Southern Co-op in early September,<br />
on behalf of the Queen, dressed in full<br />
uniform complete with ceremonial sword.<br />
Southern Co-op, which operates<br />
convenience food stores, coffee shops<br />
and funeral services across the south of<br />
England, is currently working to cut direct<br />
and indirect greenhouse gas emissions<br />
from the business by 2030. The work is<br />
supported by the co-op through a climate<br />
action pathway of planned activity and an<br />
initial investment of £5.8m.<br />
The Queen’s Awards, which have been<br />
running for 56 years, give recipients the<br />
ability to use the Queen’s Awards Emblem<br />
for the next five years. Winners were<br />
personally approved by the Queen.<br />
The Co-operative Heritage Trust<br />
has shared a number of items from its<br />
collection to pay tribute, including a<br />
commemorative tin produced by the<br />
CWS Confectionery works to mark her<br />
coronation in 1953, and a special <strong>edition</strong><br />
of The Co-operative Home Magazine,<br />
produced by the CWS.<br />
“We are saddened to hear that Queen<br />
Elizabeth II, our longest reigning monarch<br />
has passed away,” said a statement<br />
from the Trust. “We wanted to share<br />
this sentiment from the editor of the Cooperative<br />
Home Magazine in volume 58<br />
published for the coronation in 1953.<br />
‘We respectfully extend to Queen<br />
Elizabeth the Second, the earnest hope that<br />
she will enjoy a long and happy reign in<br />
an era of lasting world peace and human<br />
progress.’<br />
“During the Queen’s reign a lot has<br />
happened in our movement and in the<br />
fabric of the nation. Her Majesty’s passing<br />
marks the end of the Elizabethan era<br />
and as such we would like to extend our<br />
condolences to her family and those in<br />
mourning for their head of state.<br />
“Moments like this bring people and<br />
communities together, which is what our<br />
movement is all about.”<br />
Her Majesty’s<br />
passing marks<br />
the end of an era<br />
... Moments like<br />
this bring people<br />
and communities<br />
together, which is<br />
what our movement<br />
is all about<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 7
COST OF LIVING CRISIS<br />
Liz Truss announces support measures on energy costs – but could<br />
co-operative values offer more effective solutions?<br />
As the government begins to assemble<br />
support packages for households and<br />
businesses struggling to cope with soaring<br />
energy bills, the co-op movement has<br />
been among those calling for equitable<br />
and effective solutions.<br />
It comes at a critical time for the sector,<br />
with Co-operatives UK, the apex body<br />
for the UK’s 7,000 independent co-ops,<br />
reporting that 25% of its members are<br />
concerned for their survival over the<br />
next 12 months, with 5% approaching<br />
such a crisis point that they could cease<br />
operating within the next three months.<br />
Support measures<br />
With the Conservative leadership question<br />
resolved after a lengthy election process<br />
and Liz Truss moving into Downing Street,<br />
the government announced a freeze<br />
on domestic energy bills and a £40bn<br />
funding package for businesses.<br />
With the business sector urgently<br />
calling for more help, business secretary<br />
Jacob Rees-Mogg announced the Energy<br />
Bill Relief Scheme, which will provide a<br />
discount on wholesale gas and electricity<br />
prices for all non-domestic customers.<br />
This will include all UK businesses, the<br />
voluntary sector – such as charities – and<br />
the public sector, including schools and<br />
hospitals. This support will be equivalent<br />
to measures put in place for households.<br />
Co-operatives UK is writing to Truss<br />
to ensure that the co-op sector is “fully<br />
included and effectively supported in any<br />
action for businesses, along with all other<br />
social enterprise, community businesses<br />
and charities affected by the energy<br />
price shock”. James Wright, policy and<br />
development lead, added that members<br />
are particularly calling for action to limit<br />
prices for non-domestic energy customers.<br />
Wright said: “Our latest data adds<br />
to evidence that to do otherwise risks<br />
a ‘doom-loop’ of destitution, corporate<br />
insolvency, high unemployment and<br />
wasted potential.”<br />
Co-operatives UK surveyed its members<br />
and found that:<br />
• Half of responding co-operatives, which<br />
together employ more than 85,000<br />
people, are severely impacted<br />
p Liz Truss during the leadership campaign (Image: John Snelling/Getty)<br />
• 25% are concerned about their survival<br />
in the next 12 months<br />
• 5% are concerned about their survival<br />
in the next three months<br />
• 28% of co-operatives find their ability<br />
to create value for members/customers/<br />
communities in a financially sustainable<br />
way is severely undermined.<br />
The “ability and potential of these<br />
businesses to create and sustain decent<br />
livelihoods, expand opportunity and<br />
benefit communities across the UK, is<br />
jeopardised,” warns Wright in an online<br />
statement for Co-operatives UK.<br />
“Co-operatives are an essential part of<br />
the social economy our communities rely<br />
on in hard times,” he added. “Of the cooperatives<br />
who tell us they are severely<br />
affected, 60% are currently active in<br />
the mutual aid response to the social<br />
emergency and are looking to ramp up<br />
such activities over the winter, subject to<br />
their own financial sustainability.<br />
“What’s more, co-operatives offer<br />
excellent prospects for growing a stronger,<br />
fairer, greener UK economy. We cannot<br />
afford to lose these co-operatives now. The<br />
new prime minister must take immediate<br />
and effective action to prevent permanent<br />
damage to businesses, including co-ops.”<br />
Rees-Mogg’s announcement of<br />
support for businesses helps to address<br />
these concerns. Tony Armstrong, CEO<br />
of community business support body<br />
Locality, said: “This scheme will help<br />
many local community organisations<br />
facing the double whammy of soaring<br />
energy bills and rapidly rising demand for<br />
their services.<br />
“These are the organisations providing<br />
the essential spaces and support<br />
communities will need to get through this<br />
hardest of winters – everything from debt<br />
advice and health services to a hot meal.<br />
“We look forward to working with<br />
the government to ensure this scheme<br />
continues as the winter progresses. But<br />
this crisis reaches far beyond energy bills<br />
– we need to see targeted grant support<br />
if community organisations are going to<br />
keep playing their essential role on the<br />
front line of this crisis.”<br />
Call for new economy<br />
The Co-op Party has been calling for<br />
government action – and measures that<br />
go beyond financial support to a more<br />
fundamental economic reform.<br />
General secretary Joe Fortune said: “We<br />
are clear about the changes Liz Truss must<br />
make in both the short and long term.<br />
“Our movement and Party are alive<br />
with ideas which will give our country a<br />
better future. Over the coming months and<br />
years, we must campaign for those ideas<br />
and the movement we represent with even<br />
more zeal and energy.”<br />
8 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
He called on the government to tackle<br />
the energy crisis, with “urgent action to<br />
prevent households and businesses facing<br />
unpayable bills come <strong>October</strong>”.<br />
In the longer term, “actions must include<br />
reforming the ownership of our energy<br />
system at every level, supercharging<br />
retrofitting to make our homes and<br />
businesses more energy efficient, and<br />
creating hundreds of thousands of new<br />
owners of community energy generation<br />
schemes so that our country benefits from<br />
fair and clean energy production.”<br />
Fortune also urged action on the<br />
wider cost of living crisis, with “more<br />
support for co-operative and communitybased<br />
measures to deliver food justice,<br />
increasing emergency support such as the<br />
Household Support Fund”.<br />
He wants the government to “unleash<br />
the co-operative economy”, offering “a<br />
fairer, more resilient way of doing business<br />
– especially in turbulent economic times”.<br />
Reiterating the Party’s goal of doubling<br />
the size of the co-operative economy,<br />
Fortune suggested measures such as<br />
“increasing co-operative development<br />
capacity, reforming legislation holding cooperatives<br />
back, and creating new capital<br />
raising instruments for co-operatives<br />
and new mutual guarantee societies to<br />
support SME lending”.<br />
He also urged the government to<br />
support community ownership as a<br />
means of “tackling inequality, generating<br />
and keeping wealth locally, and taking<br />
ownership of the places, spaces and<br />
decisions that matter to them” through<br />
measures such as a local buy-out fund<br />
and the devolution of levelling up funds<br />
“so that communities don’t need to go cap<br />
in hand to Westminster”.<br />
The Party also made a call for a fairer<br />
financial system. “This must involve steps<br />
to protect vulnerable consumers such as<br />
tackling exploitative ‘buy now, pay later’<br />
providers by facilitating the growth of<br />
not-for-profit micro-loan providers and<br />
facilitating the growth of credit unions.<br />
“We must ensure the wider financial<br />
system reflects our values too, from<br />
supporting the development of regional<br />
banks to ensuring huge multinational<br />
businesses pay their fair share of tax.”<br />
Action in Scotland<br />
The broader crisis facing co-ops and other<br />
businesses has also drawn responses from<br />
the Scottish government.<br />
Agri co-op apex the Scottish Agricultural<br />
Organisation Society (SAOS) warns these<br />
issues are of particular concern to the<br />
farming sector. In its autumn bulletin<br />
for members it said energy costs are just<br />
one of a number of serious problems<br />
threatening food production.<br />
It said the Ukraine crisis has brought<br />
“rising energy prices, acute labour<br />
shortages, challenges to logistics and<br />
transportation, and significant increases<br />
in the cost of raw materials” and follows<br />
hard on the heels of shocks to the supply<br />
chain and barriers to trade from Covid-19<br />
and Brexit. But it said immediate food<br />
resources are secure, noting the Short-life<br />
Food Security and Supply Taskforce set<br />
up by the Scottish government in March<br />
to: “monitor, identify and respond to any<br />
potential disruption to food security and<br />
supply resulting from the impact of the<br />
ongoing conflict in Ukraine”. It produced<br />
a set of short, medium and longer-term<br />
recommendations including the creation<br />
of a Food Security Unit to: “monitor risks,<br />
increase resilience in food production and<br />
respond rapidly to emerging issues”.<br />
SAOS added that co-operation is a vital<br />
tool in building resilience against crisis –<br />
which means that co-ops themselves must<br />
take effective action as well as drawing on<br />
help from government.<br />
“Co-ops and their farmer members are<br />
not immune to supply chain shocks and<br />
will continue to face challenges in the<br />
weeks and months ahead,” it said. “Being<br />
part of a co-op can be of great advantage<br />
in times of crisis however.<br />
“Ensuring the lines of communication<br />
are working effectively within the coop<br />
allows members to feel less isolated<br />
in challenging times. Encouraging<br />
and sharing best practice, such as by<br />
highlighting cost saving measures or<br />
harnessing more innovative practices,<br />
are other ways in which co-ops can bring<br />
additional value to their farmer members<br />
during challenging times.<br />
“Co-ops must ensure they have strong,<br />
two-way communication channels with<br />
their members, and their members must<br />
be receptive to the idea of change.”<br />
Energy bills crisis: 30-43<br />
APPEAL<br />
Co-ops UK urges members to support Pakistan flood appeal<br />
Co-operatives UK is urging its members<br />
to support the Pakistan Floods Appeal,<br />
launched by the Disasters Emergency<br />
Committee (DEC) last month.<br />
The catastrophic floods are thought<br />
to have left a third of the country under<br />
water, killing more than 1,500 people.<br />
More than 33 million people have been<br />
affected by the disaster, which has cost the<br />
country an estimated US$40bn (£35.5bn)<br />
and brought outbreaks of cholera and<br />
other waterborne diseases.<br />
UK co-op retailers, including the Co-op<br />
Group, Midcounties and Central England,<br />
have launched awareness campaigns.<br />
Now Co-operatives UK is encouraging the<br />
wider movement to offer its support. CEO<br />
Rose Marley said: “Despite an incredible<br />
response from the UK public, the flooding<br />
and risk of disease is hugely concerning.<br />
We need to ensure that agencies working<br />
on the ground have all the support they<br />
need to reach those most in need.<br />
“We are also reaching out to co-op<br />
organisations in Pakistan to understand<br />
other ways the UK movement can support<br />
the recovery and rebuild.”<br />
This call out has been coordinated via<br />
the International Co-operative Working<br />
Group (ICWG), made up of representatives<br />
from Co-op Group, Midcounties, Central<br />
England, the Worker Co-op Council, Co-op<br />
News and the Co-op College.<br />
In recent years the UK co-op sector has<br />
raised more than £1m for the Ukraine DEC<br />
Appeal, £100,000 to provide emergency<br />
Covid support to co-ops in India and<br />
nearly AU$100,000 to help co-ops rebuild<br />
after the 2020 Australian wildfires.<br />
You can donate via coop.uk/3TCw39i<br />
Donate by text: Text COOP to 70000 to<br />
donate £10. Texts cost £10 plus standard<br />
network rate. Disasters Emergency<br />
Committee is a registered charity,<br />
no. 1062638. Full T&Cs on text at<br />
dec.org.uk<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 9
POLITICS<br />
Co-op movement urged<br />
to back co-ops and<br />
mutuals bill ahead of<br />
second reading<br />
Co-operators are being urged to voice their<br />
support for the Co-operatives, Mutuals<br />
and Friendly Societies Bill, which is due<br />
for its second reading in the House of<br />
Commons on 28 <strong>October</strong>.<br />
The private members’ bill, which passed<br />
its first reading on 15 June, was developed<br />
by advocacy organisation Mutuo and<br />
Preston’s Labour and Co-operative MP,<br />
Mark Hendrick, and covers four key<br />
areas of reform long sought by the co-op<br />
movement.<br />
Firstly, it would make changes to share<br />
capital arrangements for co-ops, enabling<br />
p Mark Hendrick<br />
them to raise more money through<br />
perpetual, non withdrawable shares.<br />
The bill’s campaign website states that<br />
“co-operatives are at a disadvantage to<br />
their shareholder-owned competitors<br />
in relation to how they raise and retain<br />
capital”, and that “further legislative<br />
reform is now needed in the UK, so cooperatives<br />
have new options to access the<br />
finance capital that they need for growth.”<br />
The bill would also confirm that mutual<br />
insurers and friendly societies that issue<br />
mutuals deferred shares would not be<br />
disproportionately impacted when paying<br />
corporation tax. The Mutuals’ Deferred<br />
Shares Act was passed in 2015, allowing<br />
mutual insurers and friendly societies to<br />
issue share capital for the first time.<br />
An option for legacy reserves to be made<br />
indivisible for co-ops, mutual insurers<br />
and friendly societies is also proposed as<br />
a disincentive to demutualisers. The bill’s<br />
website references the recent attempt<br />
Image:iStock<br />
to demutualise LV= in its argument for<br />
the provision: “As witnessed with LV= in<br />
2021, mutuals remain a target for assetstripping<br />
demutualisers, attracted by the<br />
legacy assets built up over generations,”<br />
adding that legislative safeguards such<br />
as this would “disincentivise asset raids,<br />
and help to preserve mutual ownership<br />
and corporate diversity”. Most co-ops<br />
currently include non-distributable<br />
capital surplus provisions in their rules,<br />
but according to a statement made by<br />
Co-operatives UK, this often falls short of<br />
the permanent legal guarantee sought by<br />
co-op investors.<br />
Also included in the bill are changes<br />
to the Friendly Societies Act 1992, which<br />
the campaign says is “desperately out<br />
of date in a number of areas”, imposing<br />
“unnecessary restrictions on ambitious<br />
friendly societies and … problems that<br />
the Companies Act has overcome in the<br />
intervening period”.<br />
SAOS calls on Scottish government to include co-ops in farming reform<br />
In its autumn update to members, the<br />
Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society<br />
(SAOS) has given a mixed response to<br />
progress on the Scottish government’s<br />
agriculture bill.<br />
The bill is looking to create a post-Brexit<br />
framework for the agri sector, with farmers<br />
taken out of the Common Agricultural<br />
Policy (CAP) and its system of subsidies.<br />
The plan is to introduce payments and<br />
schemes that are developed in Scotland<br />
for Scottish farming, rather than being<br />
rooted in CAP legacy policies.<br />
SAOS, the umbrella organisation<br />
for Scotland’s agri co-op sector, sits<br />
on Scotland’s Agricultural Reform<br />
Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB)<br />
and says it is pushing for “quicker, bolder<br />
reforms that will encourage more cooperation<br />
and support co-op business<br />
operations”, adding: “We are gaining<br />
traction but progress is slow.”<br />
It says that thanks to its input there are<br />
positive signs, with co-ops “specifically<br />
referenced as entities that could be<br />
eligible recipients of support”.<br />
The consultation also acknowledges<br />
that new specific funding mechanisms<br />
for the agri-food sector will be necessary<br />
including financial support for “Agri-food<br />
co-operation”.<br />
SAOS adds that the consultation refers<br />
to co-op working in terms of optimising<br />
collaboration and knowledge exchange,<br />
and there is also mention of collaboration<br />
within wider rural development.<br />
“These may appear only to be small<br />
wins,” it says, “but if these elements are<br />
enshrined in the enabling legislation then<br />
this becomes the skeleton upon which<br />
co-operation supportive schemes and<br />
funding can follow.<br />
“We urge all our members and<br />
stakeholders to participate in this<br />
consultation and provide proactive<br />
feedback on these and other areas that<br />
underpin a new, positive future for<br />
co-operation and co-op businesses.”<br />
10 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
COMMUNITY<br />
Residents add a church and WMC to the community ownership<br />
Locals in Harrogate and Kingsley Holt,<br />
Staffs., have added to the UK’s family<br />
of community businesses by banding<br />
together to buy treasured social hubs –<br />
both using loan support from Co-operative<br />
& Community Finance (CCF).<br />
One of the sites is High Harrogate<br />
Working Men’s Club, in North Yorks.,<br />
which will be fully restored and renovated<br />
on the ground floor and exterior, with the<br />
first and second floors redeveloped to<br />
create six residential apartments.<br />
Established in 1889, the club was<br />
registered as a co-op in 2019 and is now<br />
converting to a community benefit society<br />
to reflect the breadth of its services.<br />
Renamed High Harrogate Bar and Lounge,<br />
it is planning to rejuvenate facilities<br />
for local clubs such as judo, Pilates,<br />
meditation and indoor sports, and offer<br />
a modernised function room for events,<br />
parties and live music.<br />
Kevin Lloyd-Evans, lending and<br />
relationship manager at CCF, said: “Being<br />
able to respond to access to finance<br />
challenges is paramount to our work.<br />
We support membership organisations<br />
which are democratically controlled<br />
and collectively owned. This is a brilliant<br />
start as we now look to support other<br />
p High Harrogate Bar and Lounge and (below) members of Kingsley Holt Centre<br />
working men’s clubs across the country.”<br />
Meanwhile, residents of Kingsley Holt,<br />
a village near Cheadle, Staffs., have come<br />
together to save and repurpose their local<br />
Methodist chapel as a community centre<br />
with a meeting space, shop and café.<br />
The church closed for regular worship<br />
in 2019 due to a dwindling congregation.<br />
Opened in 1937, it was an important focal<br />
point for the community and its trustees<br />
asked residents to find alternative uses<br />
for it. Locals responded by managing<br />
activities and hiring the building out<br />
for events but in May 2021 the trustees<br />
announced it was to be sold. Locals<br />
– who had already lost the village’s<br />
last remaining shop – responded by<br />
registering it with the local council as an<br />
Asset of Community Value. Soon after,<br />
Kingsley Holt Centre was registered as a<br />
community benefit society.<br />
With its CCF loan topping up investment<br />
from more than 120 members through<br />
a community share offer, the society<br />
completed the purchase on 5 September<br />
and is drawing up plans to change the<br />
internal layout, with a meeting space,<br />
shop and café.<br />
Martin Wheeler, chair of Kingsley Holt<br />
Centre, said: “We had to do an amazing<br />
amount of research. We visited other<br />
groups for advice and on one of these<br />
visits CCF was recommended to us. From<br />
the very first contact it was evident that<br />
this was an invaluable recommendation.<br />
Kevin worked very closely with us on this<br />
project, providing advice, information<br />
access to funding in addition to loans.”<br />
Power to Change helps community land trust develop new housing<br />
A community land trust in Hastings, east<br />
Sussex, is turning derelict buildings into<br />
rent-capped homes and workspaces.<br />
White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures<br />
(WRNV) says its goal is to create affordable<br />
spaces for living, working and community<br />
activity. It is a partnership between Jericho<br />
Road Solutions, Meanwhile Space and the<br />
Heart of Hastings Community Land Trust.<br />
“Our capped rents are really important<br />
to us,” says James Leathers of the Heart<br />
of Hastings Community Land Trust.<br />
“They will mean that a broad diversity of<br />
people will still be able to live and work<br />
in the centre of Hastings as the area starts<br />
to gentrify.”<br />
Awarded £75,000 from community<br />
business charity Power to Change, the<br />
project is centred on two large buildings:<br />
Rock House – a nine-floor mixed-use<br />
community hub that is already thriving –<br />
and the Observer Building, which is a<br />
work in progress. These buildings fall<br />
under a wider project known as the<br />
Hastings Commons.<br />
“Hastings Commons is an ecosystem of<br />
connected organisations that approach<br />
local regeneration differently,” says<br />
Caoimhe O’Gorman, the engagement<br />
manager for Heart of Hastings CLT. “Our<br />
mission is to bring property into long-term<br />
community ownership with affordable<br />
rents in the control of residents.”<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 11
HOUSING<br />
UK’s first virtually plastic-free homes to be run by housing co-op<br />
A co-op housing development has been<br />
completed in Redditch, Worcs., using lowcarbon<br />
and minimal plastic materials.<br />
Developer GreenSquareAccord says it is<br />
the first of its kind in Europe when it comes<br />
to building with plastic alternatives.<br />
The Pioneer Housing Co-operative<br />
development, on the site of a former<br />
factory car park in the town centre, is<br />
offering 12 one-bed apartments to be<br />
managed by Redditch Cooperative Homes.<br />
Residents were recruited early in the<br />
process and have had the chance to<br />
personalise their homes, which have<br />
been built using GreenSquareAccord’s<br />
low-carbon manufacturing facility, LoCaL<br />
Homes. The apartments feature plasticfree<br />
finishes such as mineral-based wire<br />
insulation, wooden kitchen units and<br />
aluminium window frames.<br />
There are some elements of construction<br />
that could not be sourced without plastic.<br />
For safety reasons, the outside cladding is<br />
made of a cement mixture which includes<br />
plastic as a binding agent, and some<br />
fixtures such as the electricity meters<br />
could not be made plastic-free.<br />
The developer‘s assistant director of<br />
new business, Carl Taylor, said: “Although<br />
challenging, this project demonstrates<br />
what is possible and sets a new threshold<br />
in the sector for sustainable building. Our<br />
aim is to influence others to embrace our<br />
approach and remove the plastic elements<br />
from their builds, helping to create a more<br />
sustainable building sector.”<br />
Tenant David Trevitt said: “I can’t wait<br />
to move in – the peace and independence<br />
this will bring will make a massive<br />
difference to my life. As I have disabilities,<br />
this place is perfectly suited to me as it<br />
is on the ground floor and close to town<br />
and the shops. I can appreciate that the<br />
apartment is plastic-free and I’m looking<br />
forward to the benefits of lower fuel bills.”<br />
Image: GreenSquareAccord<br />
The £1.37m project received £830,631<br />
from the Interreg North West Europe<br />
funding partnership to allow the plastic<br />
reduction efforts to be researched during<br />
construction.<br />
It is also part of the Circular Housing<br />
Asset Renovation and Management<br />
(CHARM) partnership, involving<br />
representatives from France, Belgium and<br />
the Netherlands and the UK, including<br />
Redditch Borough Council.<br />
The £35m regeneration of Redditch<br />
town centre will see the co-op double in<br />
size, providing over 200 homes for new<br />
members over the next 18 months.<br />
RETAIL<br />
Unicorn refines its recipe for a worker-owned grocery<br />
Manchester co-op grocery Unicorn has<br />
launched an updated version of its guide<br />
to setting up a co-operative food store.<br />
The Grow a Grocery guide – released<br />
in 2010 to help those starting a new shop<br />
or developing an existing one – is being<br />
updated to include new resources and a<br />
fresh design.<br />
Unicorn, established in 1996, has no<br />
plans to expand beyond its existing<br />
shop, focusing instead on enabling the<br />
development of more worker-owned food<br />
co-ops around the world.<br />
“We’ve always had a mission to create<br />
social and environmental change,” says<br />
Unicorn’s Debbie Clarke, “and part of that<br />
is sharing what we know.”<br />
Unicorn’s guide includes a run-through<br />
of the 10 key areas of its business,<br />
including people, planning, produce,<br />
premises, practical resources, procedures<br />
and pricing, promotion and policies,<br />
and principles. An accompanying set<br />
of resources includes sample policies,<br />
supplier lists and rotas.<br />
Updates include new tools and systems<br />
from the sociocratic governance model, as<br />
well as learnings from the Barefoot course<br />
for Co-op Developers.<br />
“We know the guide in its original form<br />
has been useful to hundreds of enterprises<br />
all over the world,” said Debbie, “but<br />
things change over time and we wanted<br />
to keep it relevant and a living resource.<br />
We’re learning constantly, so although<br />
the core model remains the same, we’ve<br />
developed and grown a lot in the years<br />
since we wrote it.<br />
“Of course, the food retail landscape<br />
has changed too, so we hope that’s been<br />
reflected.”<br />
The guide has been used by a range of<br />
different businesses since it was originally<br />
developed with the support of Sustain and<br />
its Big Lottery-funded Food Co-ops and<br />
Buying Groups project.<br />
Download the guide at bit.ly/3R4wtTt<br />
12 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
COST OF LIVING CRISIS<br />
Conference to look<br />
at community wealth<br />
building in lean times<br />
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies<br />
(CLES) says its annual conference will<br />
challenge local government leaders to<br />
learn from the cost of living crisis and put<br />
community wealth building into practice.<br />
The Community Wealth Building<br />
Summit will gather delegates from<br />
the public, private and community<br />
and voluntary sectors at the Library of<br />
Birmingham on Friday 18 November, from<br />
9.30am – 4pm.<br />
It says the summit, which will be<br />
preceded by a series of optional webinars<br />
to introduce the key concepts of the model,<br />
is “the flagship event for progressive local<br />
economic approaches in the UK and the<br />
only conference dedicated to uniting,<br />
informing and inspiring the community<br />
wealth building movement”.<br />
This year it will “examine how<br />
community wealth building can be used<br />
to diagnose the disfunctions that long<br />
predate this summer’s lack of leadership<br />
on the cost of living crisis and redesign<br />
our local economies accordingly”.<br />
CEO Sarah Longlands (pictured) said:<br />
“The cost of living scandal is savagely<br />
highlighting where local economies are<br />
failing local people. We can no longer afford<br />
to repeat the mistakes of the past. Now is<br />
the time to be brave. In recent years we’ve<br />
seen economic development practice start<br />
to make the right noises about building<br />
more inclusive local economies.<br />
“The scale and the urgency of the<br />
challenges we now face mean we need<br />
to ask hard questions about whether this<br />
shift will be sufficient. The summit will<br />
provide the inspirations and tools to not<br />
only survive the coming storm, but to<br />
think differently and put this new thinking<br />
into action.”<br />
Scotmid competition on the hunt for local produce<br />
Scotmid Co-op has teamed up with<br />
industry body Scotland Food & Drink for<br />
a second year to give local producers the<br />
chance to win one of five promotional<br />
listings across its stores.<br />
The competition is open to all Scottish<br />
food and drink suppliers across different<br />
product categories.<br />
Worker co-op federation to rally support with webinars<br />
Workers.coop, the new federation for<br />
worker co-ops in the UK, has begun<br />
its mobilising phase, and is running<br />
fortnightly webinars for people to “hear<br />
updates, feed in and join in”. The next are<br />
on 7 <strong>October</strong> and 21 <strong>October</strong> (1-2pm), with<br />
an in-person meeting also planned for the<br />
21st. For more information and links, visit<br />
workers.coop/events<br />
Samaritans ‘stunned’ by donation from Tamworth Co-op<br />
The director of Tamworth Samaritans says<br />
she is overwhelmed by a £5,000 donation<br />
to her branch from Tamworth Co-op’s<br />
Community Dividend Fund.<br />
The grant is the largest ever handed<br />
out from the co-op’s community support<br />
scheme, which distributes a five-figure<br />
sum to local causes each year.<br />
Southern Co-op joins Somerset Wildlife Trust<br />
Southern Co-op has joined Somerset<br />
Wildlife Trust as a corporate member, as it<br />
continues its environmental sustainability<br />
strategy. Its support will help the Trust<br />
to build a Nature Recovery Network<br />
across Somerset and engage with local<br />
communities, helping them to develop<br />
the skills and expertise needed to take the<br />
lead in caring for their local environment.<br />
East of England hands out £10k to community causes<br />
East of England Co-op has paid out more<br />
than £100,000 via its Community Cares<br />
Fund to 26 organisations across Norfolk,<br />
Suffolk and Essex. Grants between £1,000<br />
and £5,000 and are expected to benefit<br />
4,757 local people. Recipients include<br />
Disability Advice North East Suffolk, a<br />
support charity run by disabled people,<br />
for disabled people and their carers.<br />
SEPTEMBER <strong>2022</strong> | 13
GLOBAL UPDATES<br />
EUROPE<br />
Co-ops respond<br />
to Ursula von der<br />
Leyen’s State of the<br />
Union Speech<br />
European Commission president Ursula<br />
von der Leyen delivered her State of the<br />
Union Speech to the European Parliament<br />
on 14 September in the presence of<br />
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska.<br />
Von der Leyen highlighted the key<br />
challenges and priorities for the EU,<br />
particularly around the energy crisis,<br />
suggesting measures such as a cap on<br />
the revenues of companies that produce<br />
electricity at a low cost, establishing<br />
a new benchmark for the gas market,<br />
reforming the electricity market, investing<br />
in renewable energy and creating a<br />
European Bank for hydrogen.<br />
She also mentioned how workers at<br />
Italian co-op Ceramiche are saving energy<br />
by starting work at six in the morning to<br />
use sunlight and to avoid turning on fans.<br />
And she announced the launch of an<br />
SME Relief Package, a measure welcomed<br />
by sector apex Cooperatives Europe.<br />
“This year, we will be expecting an<br />
SME relief package with a proposal for<br />
a single set of tax rules called BEFIT,”<br />
said a Cooperatives Europe statement.<br />
“While promoting an enabling business<br />
environment is strongly encouraged,<br />
we remain more cautious on the fiscal<br />
aspect. Co-operatives’ fiscal treatment<br />
varies between member states and reflects<br />
co-operatives’ specific principles and<br />
differences in management logic. Work<br />
on that topic will require a thorough<br />
stakeholders’ consultation, of which we<br />
stand ready to be part.”<br />
Cooperatives Europe also approves of the<br />
Commission’s initiatives around skilling<br />
and re-skilling the workforce. “As the<br />
Commission announced 2023 to become<br />
the European Year of Skills, we hope to see<br />
this momentum used to better promote<br />
co-operative entrepreneurship in higher<br />
education and management training,”<br />
it said.<br />
The apex added it will continue to<br />
engage with the EU institutions. Upcoming<br />
European initiatives include the council<br />
recommendation establishing framework<br />
p Ursula von der Leyen delivered her State of the Union Speech in the European Parliament on<br />
14 September (Image: EU)<br />
conditions for the social economy, the<br />
transition pathways and the work on<br />
sustainable corporate governance, all of<br />
which could impact co-ops.<br />
The European Confederation of<br />
Industrial and Service Cooperatives (Cecop)<br />
also welcomed some of von der Leyen’s<br />
announcements but said it regretted the<br />
omission of the social dimension.<br />
“In the <strong>2022</strong> State of the Union<br />
address, the Commission president<br />
has made important commitments to<br />
relieve economic pressure on European<br />
businesses and citizens, which Cecop<br />
welcomes,” said the organisation’s<br />
president, Giuseppe Guerini.<br />
“Unfortunately, little has been said on<br />
the social dimension of the EU. Support<br />
for social cohesion is essential to building<br />
the EU’s resilience and social economy<br />
actors, including co-operatives, are key<br />
stakeholders in this.”<br />
A statement from Cecop added: “The<br />
crises currently facing the EU require it to<br />
step up and deliver direct, immediate and<br />
broad actions to promote social cohesion.<br />
Social justice and social peace will be<br />
key to the upcoming European elections.<br />
Quality working conditions will be key to<br />
tackle staff shortages, and to contribute to<br />
resilient and sustainable development of<br />
the European economy.<br />
“Cecop hopes to see social policies, the<br />
European Pillar of Social Rights and the<br />
implementation of the Social Economy<br />
Action Plan high on the working agenda<br />
of the Commission for 2023.”<br />
The organisation welcomed the promise<br />
of support for companies and citizens<br />
who are struggling with the increased<br />
energy prices, and the EU’s commitment<br />
to ensure accessibility of critical raw<br />
materials, but added that the announced<br />
SME relief package must be fully available<br />
to co-operatives across the EU.<br />
“Our industry co-operatives, in<br />
particular, are key partners for the EU<br />
on its way to develop a more sovereign<br />
economy and to advance with the just<br />
<strong>digital</strong> and green transition mentioned<br />
by the Commission president. But they<br />
face a number of challenges that must be<br />
tackled urgently,” it said.<br />
Cecop also welcomed the Commission’s<br />
commitment to come forward with new<br />
ideas for the EU’s economic governance<br />
in <strong>October</strong>: “We expect these new rules<br />
to move away from the focus on austerity<br />
and to facilitate strategic investment by<br />
the member states in order to address<br />
outstanding social and economic<br />
challenges and to promote a fair <strong>digital</strong><br />
and green transition.”<br />
With the Year 2023 being declared the<br />
European Year of Education and Training,<br />
Cecop pointed out that skills development<br />
is essential for the future of European<br />
workers and businesses, in particular<br />
SMEs.<br />
“Co-operatives both invest in their<br />
employees’ reskilling and upskilling, and<br />
benefit from broader skill development<br />
measures. This is why Cecop has<br />
already joined the Skills Partnership<br />
for the Proximity and Social Economy<br />
ecosystem,” it said.<br />
14 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
EUROPE<br />
EU Care Strategy package recognises co-operatives<br />
The European Commission presented a<br />
European Care Strategy which suggests<br />
concrete actions for member states to<br />
increase access to high-quality and<br />
affordable care services, while improving<br />
working conditions and work-life balance<br />
for carers.<br />
Published on 7 September, the strategy<br />
is accompanied by two proposals for<br />
Council recommendations on long-term<br />
care and early childhood education and<br />
care; and recognises co-operatives as<br />
major partners for public authorities in<br />
the provision of long-term care.<br />
The Commission points out that 90%<br />
of the formal care workforce is made<br />
up of women, and 7.7 million women<br />
are out of employment because of care<br />
responsibilities. To address this, it<br />
suggests a number of actions, including<br />
revising the targets on early childhood<br />
education and care to enhance women’s<br />
labour market participation, also called<br />
‘the Barcelona Targets’, set in 2002.<br />
Commissioner for Jobs and Social<br />
Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said: “The<br />
European Care Strategy is about putting<br />
people first. The EU recognises the value<br />
of care work, which must be reflected<br />
in better working conditions and pay.<br />
People in need of long-term care must be<br />
guaranteed access to affordable services<br />
of good quality so they can live a dignified<br />
life. I hope that this strategy will result in<br />
care – both professional and informal –<br />
being given the respect and investment it<br />
deserves.”<br />
The European confederation of<br />
industrial and service cooperatives<br />
(Cecop) welcomed the adoption of the<br />
strategy and the related policy initiatives.<br />
Cecop notes that the strategy<br />
acknowledges the contribution of cooperatives<br />
as “important partners for<br />
public authorities in the provision of<br />
long-term care” and the fact that “social<br />
economy actors bring an added-value to<br />
the provision of high-quality care services<br />
due to their person-centred approach<br />
and the reinvestment of profits into their<br />
mission and local communities”.<br />
Another provision welcomed by Cecop<br />
is the acknowledgment that policy and<br />
legal frameworks should create the right<br />
environment for the social economy to<br />
optimise its contribution to care services.<br />
The apex also views favourably the<br />
recommendation that member states<br />
include quality criteria in public<br />
procurement. “The systematic use of<br />
socially responsible public procurement<br />
could boost the potential of social<br />
economy to contribute to high-quality<br />
standards in care and to provide fair<br />
working conditions”, reads the strategy.<br />
Cecop argues this provision will help cooperatives,<br />
as organisations that prioritise<br />
quality over profit in employment<br />
conditions and care provision.<br />
In recognising the importance<br />
of accessible <strong>digital</strong> transition and<br />
technological innovation, the strategy<br />
mentions CGM, the main Italian<br />
consortium of social co-operatives, as<br />
a best practice in increasing access to<br />
long-term care via <strong>digital</strong>isation. The<br />
consortium provides care services via<br />
<strong>digital</strong> platforms.<br />
Giuseppe Guerini, the president of<br />
Cecop, said: “In many cases, co-operatives<br />
have created services where there<br />
were none, and made investments and<br />
promoted social solidarity at a time when<br />
no one was talking about social impact<br />
investments. They have created a new<br />
model of enterprises (social co-operatives)<br />
and hundreds of thousands of jobs. This<br />
is why we believe it is important that in<br />
the implementation of the European Care<br />
Strategy the key role of social economy<br />
organisations – and first of all social and<br />
health co-operatives – are recognised.”<br />
To achieve further progress, Cecop<br />
Image: GettyImages/MarcBruxelle<br />
recommends the Commission and EU<br />
member states consider:<br />
• prioritising long-term investment and<br />
sustainable funding for care providers<br />
that respects the co-operative model<br />
and ensuring that co-operatives are<br />
eligible for all relevant EU and national<br />
funding<br />
• more favourable state aid rules and a<br />
higher de minimis threshold for the care<br />
sector<br />
• an effective shift towards a more<br />
integrated public-private partnership<br />
model, based on a joint analysis of<br />
community needs and long-term<br />
planning of services by care providers,<br />
authorities and other stakeholders<br />
• EU financial instruments for <strong>digital</strong>,<br />
technological and social innovation<br />
in the care sector are essential but<br />
policy attention to that field should be<br />
increased, in particular on the side of<br />
the member states.<br />
• stepping up investments in care<br />
infrastructure<br />
• promoting and supporting communitybased<br />
care model among the member<br />
states.<br />
Cecop says it expects to “engage in<br />
further dialogue with the Commission<br />
and our members in the member states<br />
on implementation of the care strategy<br />
package” and is “committed to sharing<br />
expertise from our network”.<br />
The Commission’s proposals for Council<br />
Recommendations will be discussed by<br />
member states with a view to adoption by<br />
the [European] Council.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 15
FINLAND<br />
Tech co-op given state funds for digitisation project<br />
The Finnish government has awarded a<br />
€3m (£2.6m) grant to Findynet Cooperative<br />
for a pilot project aiming to build a selfsovereign<br />
identity network.<br />
The initiative seeks to further encourage<br />
Finland’s digitisation while supporting<br />
the emergence of investments in new<br />
<strong>digital</strong> services. The co-op will use the<br />
money to develop a common and secure<br />
network of verified data to stimulate<br />
electronic transactions.<br />
Such a network would allow individuals<br />
and organisations to share information<br />
such as certificates, electronic receipts,<br />
credit information and proof of<br />
professional qualifications in a way that<br />
protects their privacy while boosting<br />
trust in transactions. Furthermore, <strong>digital</strong><br />
wallets developed by different service<br />
providers would be interoperable and<br />
work seamlessly for both organisations<br />
NORWAY<br />
Coop Norway<br />
reduces food waste<br />
through partnership<br />
with Too Good to Go<br />
Retailer Coop Norway says it has<br />
distributed 550,000 bags of surplus food<br />
using the mobile app Too Good to Go.<br />
The co-op began rollout of the initiative<br />
in autumn 2021, enabling customers<br />
to buy food items cheaply that would<br />
otherwise be thrown away. It is part of the<br />
retailer’s plans to reduce food waste by<br />
30% by 2025.<br />
“It has quickly become a very popular<br />
offer among our customers, and it feels<br />
good to know that the goods are being<br />
sold and eaten,” said Håvard Jensen,<br />
director of Chains at Coop Norge.<br />
“Our customers, who are also our coowners,<br />
are concerned with sustainability<br />
and are becoming increasingly aware of<br />
throwing away less food.”<br />
Jensen described how the collaboration<br />
with Too Good To Go is expected to<br />
reduce the co-operative’s food waste by<br />
approximately 6% in <strong>2022</strong>. “This is just<br />
one of several important steps on the<br />
way to our vision for zero food waste,”<br />
he added.<br />
Image: GettyImages<br />
and individuals. Users would also be able<br />
to manage their own data and decide what<br />
information they share about themselves<br />
with different parties.<br />
“We are very happy to have received<br />
this government grant, which allows us to<br />
Near the shop’s closing time the leftover<br />
food is packaged by Coop Norway<br />
staff in surprise bags and made available<br />
in the Too Good To Go app. Customers can<br />
then buy the bags for around one third of<br />
the full price.<br />
“The customers appreciate that they<br />
can get a full range of groceries. A bag can<br />
contain baked goods, fruit and vegetables,<br />
fish and meat, dry goods, cold cuts and<br />
dairy products that we are not allowed to<br />
sell at full price due to shelf life, cosmetic<br />
defects or the like,” said store manager<br />
Joakim Nilsen for Extra Iseveien in<br />
Sarpsborg, the Coop Norway grocery store<br />
to have sold the most bags through Too<br />
Good To Go.<br />
All 804 Coop Norway stores have a<br />
profile on the Too Good To Go app.<br />
A social enterprise, Too Good to Go<br />
was founded in Denmark at the end of<br />
2015 by a group of friends seeking to<br />
reduce food waste. Since then a number<br />
of co-operative retailers have joined the<br />
initiative, including the Southern Cooperative,<br />
the Midcounties Co-operative,<br />
the Central England Co-operative and the<br />
Heart of England Co-operative in the UK,<br />
Coop Netherlands, the Dill Pickle Food<br />
Co-op in Chicago and Coop Denmark.<br />
“Together with our app users, the Coop<br />
[Norway] stores make a big effort to ensure<br />
continue our long-term work with public<br />
and private sector actors and build a trust<br />
network covering all of society,” said<br />
Markus Hautala, chair of Findynet and<br />
head of <strong>digital</strong> identity at Tietoevry.<br />
Findynet is a co-operative of nine<br />
public and private sector organisations:<br />
Kela, Posti, Tietoevry, OP group, Nixu,<br />
Nordea, Vastuu Group, Finanssiala<br />
and Technology Industry. Its customers<br />
are public and private sector service<br />
providers that utilise the network and<br />
provide <strong>digital</strong> wallet services to end<br />
customers.<br />
The self-governing identity network<br />
would also be compatible with the EU’s<br />
eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014,<br />
which regulates cross-border electronic<br />
identification and electronic trust<br />
services. eIDAS is being amended to<br />
regulate European wallet applications.<br />
p Customers can buy the bags for around one<br />
third of the full price (Image: Coop Norway)<br />
that the food they have left at the end of<br />
the day is eaten and does not end up as<br />
waste”, said Johan Ingemarsson, general<br />
manager of Too Good To Go.<br />
“The environmental benefit of the<br />
550,000 bags of surplus food saved so<br />
far corresponds to 1,375 tonnes of CO2<br />
equivalents. With this, we have saved the<br />
world from emissions equivalent to flying<br />
271 times around the world.<br />
16 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
USA<br />
Co-op leaders given new places on two federal committees<br />
Co-op leaders have been given places on<br />
two federal committees, set up by the<br />
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and<br />
Department of Energy.<br />
In August, USDA announced a new<br />
Equity Commission Subcommittee on<br />
Rural Community Economic Development,<br />
which includes representatives of<br />
community-based organisations, lending<br />
institutions, small businesses, tribal<br />
entities and the Equity Commission.<br />
Among the 12 are Doug O’Brien,<br />
president and CEO of national co-op apex<br />
NCBA CLUSA; and Curtis Wynn, CEO of<br />
SECO Energy, an electric co-op serving<br />
more than 200,000 member-owners in<br />
Central Florida.<br />
“USDA is committed to ensuring<br />
that the underserved communities<br />
and populations that have been<br />
disproportionately impacted by the<br />
effects of economic and environmental<br />
shocks are prioritised,” said agriculture<br />
secretary Tom Vilsack. “The diverse<br />
perspectives and expertise of the new<br />
subcommittee members will be critical to<br />
ensuring the Commission’s discussions<br />
p Curtis Wynn, Doug O’Brien will work with the USDA and Louis Finkel with the Energy Department<br />
and recommendations are balanced,<br />
insightful, and project the desired equity<br />
outcomes for everyone.”<br />
“It is an honour to serve with such an<br />
excellent group of rural leaders,” said<br />
O’Brien. “The work of the commission<br />
ensuring greater equity in USDA<br />
programmes is crucial for all people in<br />
rural communities.”<br />
Meanwhile, Louis Finkel, senior vice<br />
president of the National Rural Electric<br />
Cooperative Association (NRECA) has<br />
been appointed to serve a two-year term<br />
on the Energy Department’s Electricity<br />
Advisory Committee (EAC).<br />
The EAC’s role is to help department<br />
define a strategy to modernise the<br />
country’s electricity infrastructure.<br />
Finkel, who will give input on issues<br />
such as smart grid technologies, energy<br />
storage, renewable energy resource<br />
system integration, and new transmission<br />
infrastructure, said: “I’m honoured to<br />
be able to serve as a voice for America’s<br />
electric co-ops as the nation works toward<br />
a future that depends more on electricity<br />
to power the American economy.”<br />
Also serving is Clay Koplin, CEO of<br />
Cordova Electric Cooperative in Alaska,<br />
who was recently reappointed.<br />
South Dakota Hutterian Co-operative in dispute with authorities<br />
The South Dakota Public Utilities<br />
Commission has filed a complaint against<br />
the South Dakota Hutterian Co-operative<br />
arguing that the co-op has been operating<br />
as a grain trader without a license.<br />
Filed on 15 July, the complaint points out<br />
that the co-op has never held a grain buyer<br />
license from the Commission, despite<br />
acting as a grain buyer and adds that the<br />
co-op requires a license and bond in order<br />
to buy grains from individual farmers.<br />
“The manner in which SDHC conducts<br />
business is not different from any other<br />
co-op. Co-ops by their nature operate and<br />
exist for the benefit of their members.<br />
This does not exempt co-operatives from<br />
licensing laws. In fact, this Commission<br />
issued some 85 grain buyer licenses for cooperatives<br />
for this licensing year,” argues<br />
the complaint, adding that the co-op “has<br />
not been receptive to requests to become<br />
properly licensed and bonded”.<br />
Despite applying for a license after<br />
the complaint had been filed, the coop<br />
asks not to have to comply with state<br />
regulations on financial reporting for<br />
grain dealers. According to AG Week,<br />
the co-op’s attorney Julie Dvorak told a<br />
meeting of the Public Utilities Commission<br />
on 30 August that compliance would come<br />
at a significant extra cost to the co-op and<br />
its members.<br />
She argued that as a co-op only open<br />
to Hutterites, a Christian faith whose<br />
adepts practice a near-total community<br />
of goods, the reporting requirements were<br />
unnecessary. She added that producers<br />
were always paid and explained that the<br />
co-op had a bookkeeper and an accounting<br />
firm who deals with tax reporting.<br />
The co-op has obtained a 90-day<br />
temporary exemption to enable it to cope<br />
with the busy harvest season but it will<br />
have to comply with the requirement at<br />
the end of the period.<br />
Commission chair Chris Nelson told<br />
the co-op’s representative that making an<br />
exception in the case of the co-op would<br />
lead to other requests for exemptions,<br />
reports AG Week.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 17
INDIA<br />
RBI revokes licences of two co-op banks as 15 more are fined<br />
Deccan Urban Co-operative Bank and<br />
Rupee Co-operative Bank had their<br />
licences revoked by the Reserve Bank of<br />
India (RBI) in August. RBI also issued fines<br />
to 15 urban co-operative banks (UCBs).<br />
RBI released a statement cancelling<br />
Rupee Co-operative Bank’s licence on<br />
10 August, on the grounds that it “does<br />
not have adequate capital and earning<br />
prospects”, meaning they would be<br />
unable to pay present depositors in full.<br />
RBI described the continuance of the<br />
bank as “prejudicial to the interests of its<br />
depositors”, and not in the public interest.<br />
Rupee Co-operative Bank ceased trading<br />
on 22 September.<br />
Deccan Urban Co-operative Bank’s<br />
licence was revoked eight days later for<br />
the same reasons, and has ceased trading.<br />
RBI also issued fines of Rs 10.00<br />
lakh (£10,832) each to: Bharat Heavy<br />
Electricals Employees’ Co-operative Bank<br />
for not adhering to directions regarding<br />
exposure norms or other restrictions;<br />
Darussalam Co-operative Urban Bank for<br />
the violation of directions issued under<br />
income recognition, asset classification,<br />
provisioning and other UCB related matters,<br />
as well directions regarding its board of<br />
directors; Nellore Co-operative Urban<br />
Bank for issuing loans to directors or their<br />
p RBI has an enforcer role<br />
relatives and firms and violating directions<br />
regarding exposure norms; and Kakinada<br />
Co-operative Town Bank for not adhering<br />
to directions regarding the establishment<br />
of a depositor education and awareness<br />
fund, as well as violating directions<br />
issued under income recognition, asset<br />
classification, provisioning and other UCB<br />
related matters.<br />
National Urban Co-operative Bank<br />
was fined Rs 5.00 lakh (£5,416) for noncompliance<br />
with RBI’s directions on<br />
income recognition, asset classification,<br />
provisioning and other related matters for<br />
UCBs, as was The Ottapalam Co-operative<br />
Urban Bank for contravening the same<br />
directions as well as the Know Your<br />
Customer (KYC) guidelines for urban coop<br />
banks. KYC guidelines are in place to<br />
prevent money laundering.<br />
Kendrapara Urban Cooperative Bank<br />
received a Rs 1.00 lakh (£1,083) fine for<br />
also contravening the KYC directions.<br />
Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank was<br />
fined Rs 55.00 lakh (£59,552) for violation of<br />
directions relating to income recognition,<br />
asset classification, provisioning and<br />
other related matters, as well as finance<br />
for housing schemes.<br />
These penalties come after seven other<br />
co-ops received monetary fines earlier in<br />
August for a range of direction violations.<br />
Thodupuzha Urban Co-operative Bank<br />
has had restrictions placed on its activity<br />
for a six month period from 23 August, due<br />
to its liquidity position.<br />
Customers are no longer able to<br />
withdraw funds from the bank, and<br />
Thodupuzha is prohibited from accepting<br />
new deposits, granting or renewing loans<br />
or making any new investments without<br />
prior approval from RBI. A further four<br />
UCBs have had existing restriction periods<br />
extended.<br />
This kind of action from RBI has become<br />
a regular occurrence for India’s co-op<br />
banking sector in recent years. In 2020,<br />
UCBs were brought under the supervision<br />
of the RBI, giving it the power to audit coop<br />
banks as well to approve mergers and<br />
the appointment of CEOs.<br />
SINGAPORE<br />
FairPrice Group to implement Progressive Wage Model<br />
NTUC FairPrice Group is implementing<br />
a wage structure to help increase the<br />
salaries of workers through upgrading<br />
skills and improving productivity.<br />
The retailer is following the Progressive<br />
Wage Model (PWM), which was developed<br />
by a committee of unions, employers and<br />
the Singaporean government.<br />
The initiative will cost the group S$70m<br />
(£43m) over a three-year period. FairPrice<br />
says the measure will increase the wages<br />
of non-executive staff, who make up 75%<br />
of its total workforce, to a level in line with<br />
their roles for their respective industries.<br />
CEO Vipul Chawla said: “Our staff<br />
are our most important asset and we<br />
value their dedication and service. We<br />
want to move forward as one team and<br />
are therefore going the extra mile and<br />
extending the initiative beyond our retail<br />
business to include employees across all<br />
our various businesses in FPG.<br />
“While companies have six months to<br />
work on the implementation of PWM, we<br />
expedited and implemented it right from<br />
the get-go, despite rising cost pressures<br />
and inflation, as we believe that a<br />
motivated and empowered workforce will<br />
deliver the best care for our customers.”<br />
The implementation began on 1<br />
September and will benefit 10,000 nonexecutive<br />
staff including full-time and<br />
part-time employees, regardless of<br />
nationality.<br />
The group consulted with the Food,<br />
Drinks and Allied Workers’ Union<br />
(FDAWU) ahead of the rollout.<br />
“It was indeed a pleasure working with<br />
FPG to roll out the PWM for the benefit of<br />
employees in FPG’s retail, food services<br />
and supply chain operations. We look<br />
forward to our continued partnership to<br />
do well, do good and do together for our<br />
workers,” said Tan Hock Soon, general<br />
secretary, FDAWU.<br />
18 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
NEW ZEALAND<br />
Fonterra rethinks sale of Australian arm after strong annual results<br />
Dairy co-op Fonterra hailed a “strong set of<br />
results” for the year to 31 July, with group<br />
revenue up 11% to NZ$23.4bn (£12.1bn).<br />
Total group normalised earnings<br />
before interest and tax (EBIT) was $991m<br />
(£514m), up 4%; normalised profit after<br />
tax rose 1% to $591m (£306m).<br />
The co-op said it was rethinking plans<br />
to sell its Australian business. CEO Miles<br />
Hurrell said his team had looked at a<br />
number of options and “decided it’s in<br />
the co-op’s best interests to maintain full<br />
ownership”.<br />
Plans to sell Fonterra’s Chilean<br />
business, Soprole, will still go ahead.<br />
Fonterra says its results reflect a 2021/22<br />
farmgate milk price of NZ$9.30 per kgMS.<br />
With a total dividend of 20 cents per share<br />
to fully shared-up farmers, the final cash<br />
pay-out for farmers is $9.50.<br />
CEO Miles Hurrell said that despite the<br />
increased costs associated with supply<br />
chain volatility, 2021/22 had been a good<br />
year for the co-op.<br />
“This year’s higher Farmgate Milk Price<br />
is the strongest it has ever been, which is<br />
great news for our farmers. New Zealand<br />
also benefits from this, with $13.7bn<br />
returned into the economy in milk price<br />
payments alone this year.”<br />
Looking at the reprieved Australian<br />
venture, Hurrell said: “Australia plays<br />
p Fonterra is owned by 10,500 d airy farmers in New Zealand<br />
an important role in our consumer<br />
strategy with a number of common and<br />
complementary brands and products<br />
and as a destination for our New Zealand<br />
milk solids.<br />
“The business is going well, and it will<br />
play a key role in helping us get to our<br />
2030 strategic targets.”<br />
Hurrell said the performance was<br />
helped by robust demand for dairy<br />
and strong margins in the ingredients<br />
channel , although higher milk prices had<br />
tightened margins.<br />
He said he was pleased with progress on<br />
Fonterra’s new business strategy, capital<br />
restructure and sustainability efforts,<br />
adding: “A globally competitive farmer<br />
owned co-op is in the best interests of the<br />
dairy industry, rural communities and<br />
New Zealand.<br />
Fonterra has announced a forecast<br />
<strong>2022</strong>/23 Farmgate Milk Price range<br />
of NZ$8.50–$10.00 per kgMS, with a<br />
midpoint of NZ$9.25 per kgMS.<br />
“The longer-term outlook for dairy<br />
remains positive,” added Hurrell. “In the<br />
medium-term, we expect to see an easing<br />
in some of the geopolitical events, namely<br />
the Covid-19 lockdowns in China and the<br />
economic challenges in Sri Lanka.”<br />
USA<br />
NCBA CLUSA<br />
launches co-op<br />
development scheme<br />
for underserved farmers<br />
US co-op apex NCBA CLUSA has<br />
announced a new development project to<br />
increase the capacity of local agricultural<br />
production in rural America.<br />
The project will provide technical<br />
assistance and training to “historically<br />
underserved” farmers and ranchers –<br />
including those who are starting out,<br />
those with limited resources, veterans and<br />
socially disadvantaged producers.<br />
NCBA CLUSA is inviting suitable<br />
vendors to submit quotes of up to<br />
US$100,000 (£88,800) for technical<br />
assistance, including research, resources<br />
and delivering online events and training.<br />
It is also seeking applications for small<br />
grants to support this work. Eligible<br />
organisations can apply for up to $20,000<br />
(£17,700) to carry out a range of activities<br />
such as outreach, technical assistance,<br />
co-op development training and support,<br />
financial training, capacity building<br />
training and rural development to<br />
underserved farmers, ranchers and forest<br />
landowners.<br />
The programme is being delivered in<br />
partnership with the US Department<br />
of Agriculture’s American Rescue Plan<br />
Technical Assistance Investment (ARPTAI)<br />
Program, set up to increase understanding<br />
and participation around the USDA’s<br />
services in underserved farmers, ranchers,<br />
forest land owners and operators.<br />
NCBA CLUSA expects to offer these small<br />
grants every year for the next five years,<br />
in line with the activity of the ARPTAI<br />
funded ‘Strengthening Co-op Capacity for<br />
Historically Underserved Farmers’ project.<br />
The apex says the programme will<br />
“cultivate a community-led co-operative<br />
development ecosystem to invest in<br />
agricultural communities, address their<br />
needs and transform America’s food<br />
systems”.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 19
AUSTRALIA<br />
BCCM announces speakers for co-op leadership summit<br />
The first speakers have been announced<br />
for the Leaders’ Summit and Industry<br />
Dinner, organised by the Business Council<br />
for Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM).<br />
Held on 17-18 November in Melbourne,<br />
the event promises “a high-level<br />
programme for executives and directors<br />
dealing head on with the need for a unified<br />
vision for growth for our sector and to help<br />
Australia address systemic risks to the<br />
economy through co-operation”.<br />
The event looks at the theme of “triple<br />
threat or triple opportunity”, looking at<br />
three trends – competition, conscious<br />
consumerism and consolidation.<br />
Key speakers include:<br />
• Jeremy Duffield, Ex-CEO and founder,<br />
Vanguard Australia<br />
• Enrique de los Rios, CEO, Unica Group<br />
(Spain)<br />
• Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst,<br />
Bloomberg Intelligence and author of<br />
The Bogle Effect<br />
• Ana Aguirre, president, Youth Network,<br />
International Co-operative Alliance<br />
p Ana Aguirre, president of the ICA Youth<br />
Network, will give the closing address<br />
Other contributors include Ben<br />
Macnamara, CEO of agri-co-op CBH<br />
Group, Eugenie Stockman, CEO of<br />
Cooperation Housing, Matt Rutter, CEO<br />
of Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative,<br />
Peter Hunt of Mutuo and Melina Morrison,<br />
CEO of BCCM.<br />
The event also features CEO breakouts<br />
which will address “four ideas to take<br />
Australia forward” – food security and<br />
sustainable domestic agriculture; a<br />
just transition to a greener economy;<br />
affordable housing for all Australians; and<br />
a sustainable and valued care workforce.<br />
Flood relief<br />
BCCM has also welcomed the first round<br />
of relief grants from the Australian<br />
Mutuals Foundation, which will go to 21<br />
community-based organisations affected<br />
by the floods which hit New South Wales<br />
and Queensland this year.<br />
The AMF flood grants are being delivered<br />
in partnership with BCCM, Summerland<br />
Credit Union and G&C Mutual Bank.<br />
Recipients include Nundah Community<br />
Enterprises, a Brisbane-worker co-op<br />
that supports refugees and people with<br />
disabilities by providing them with work.<br />
The AU$10,000 (£5,900) grant will help<br />
workers retain their jobs while the co-op<br />
recovers from loss of stock, equipment<br />
and contracts due to the floods.<br />
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Space to<br />
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Space for<br />
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20 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
KENYA<br />
Co-op Bank of<br />
Kenya reports 45% growth<br />
in half-year profit<br />
The Co-op Bank of Kenya has reported a<br />
growth in profits in its latest quarterlies.<br />
The bank reported a Kshs15.3bn<br />
(£110.1m) profit before tax for the second<br />
quarter, up from Kshs10.5bn (£75.5m) in<br />
the same period for the previous year.<br />
This represents a 45% growth in profit<br />
since 2021. The bank’s post-tax profit<br />
was Kshs11.5bn (£82.7m) in 2021, up from<br />
Kshs7.4bn (£53.2m) in 2021.<br />
Based on its performance the bank has<br />
been able to deliver a return on equity of<br />
24.2% to its shareholders.<br />
The total value of the bank’s assets rose<br />
5.4% to Kshs603.9bn (£4.3bn) compared<br />
with Kshs573bn (£4.1bn) in the same<br />
period last year. The bank also saw an<br />
increase in its total operating income<br />
by 17.8% to Kshs34.4bn(£247.2m) from<br />
Kshs29.2bn(£209.9m).<br />
It also reports that it has been able<br />
to serve nine million account holders<br />
through its “universal banking model”<br />
and “sales force effectiveness”.<br />
The bank’s cost to income ratio has<br />
fallen to 46% in this quarter from 59%.<br />
Through its <strong>digital</strong> strategy, the bank has<br />
also moved 94% of its transactions to<br />
alternative delivery channels including<br />
internet and mobile banking and a 24<br />
hour contact centre.<br />
Managing director and CEO Gideon<br />
Muriuki said: “The strong performance<br />
by the bank is in line with the strategic<br />
focus on sustainable growth, resilience<br />
and agility,” and later added: “The Cooperative<br />
Bank Group continues to pursue<br />
strategic initiatives that focus on resilience<br />
and growth in the various economic<br />
sectors. This is anchored on a successful<br />
universal banking model supported by<br />
an innovative <strong>digital</strong> presence, a wide<br />
physical footprint, nine million customers<br />
and the unique synergies in the over 15<br />
million member co-operative movement<br />
that is the largest in Africa.”<br />
Glanbia Co-op rebrands as Tirlán after buyout<br />
Ireland’s Glanbia Co-operative Society<br />
and Glanbia have rebranded as Tirlán –<br />
which stands for “land of abundance”.<br />
The two businesses adopted a new<br />
identity to reflect the co-op’s acquisition<br />
of the remaining 40% stake in Glanbia<br />
Ireland from Glanbia plc to become the<br />
sole owners of the business.<br />
Ugandan credit co-ops set up national federation<br />
A federation for community credit cooperatives<br />
has been launched in Uganda<br />
to represent the sector and help it meet<br />
members’ needs. Formed under the<br />
supervision of the Ministry of Trade<br />
Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), the<br />
initiative is part of the Uganda Saemaul<br />
Geumgo Project, launched in 2018.<br />
Indonesian minister sets out plan for new co-op law<br />
Indonesia’s co-ops minister Teten Masduki<br />
said a forthcoming Cooperatives Bill will<br />
build resilience into the sector. Antara<br />
News reported Masduki’s speech in capital<br />
Jakarta, where he set out plans including<br />
a new independent regulator for co-op<br />
savings and loans, a deposit insurance<br />
scheme to protect finance customers, and<br />
tougher penalties for business abuses.<br />
Singapore’s credit co-ops weigh emerging trends<br />
The Singapore National Co-operative<br />
Federation brought together more than<br />
70 representatives from the co-op credit<br />
sector last month to discuss finance<br />
trends. A key topic was Buy Now Pay<br />
Later financial services, which have seen<br />
strong growth since the pandemic, and<br />
delegates were told to educate customers<br />
on their use.<br />
Filene Research Institute and Woccu will share premises<br />
The World Council of Credit Unions<br />
(Woccu) has moved into the Filene<br />
Research Institute’s office in Madison,<br />
Wisconsin, after remote working prompted<br />
a rethink of its office needs. It also needed<br />
a site that could accommodate the staff<br />
of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit<br />
Unions, Global Women’s Leadership<br />
Network and Wycup,<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 21
MEET<br />
Edward Rosen<br />
Project director, Lambeth GP<br />
Food Co-op<br />
This month we speak to Ed Rosen, project director at Lambeth GP<br />
Food Co-op, who has also worked in the NHS as an educationalist.<br />
Set up in 2013, Lambeth GP Food Co-op brings together patients,<br />
doctors, nurses and local residents who have created a network<br />
of food-growing NHS gardens. The co-op serves both an economic<br />
and a therapeutic purpose, helping patients with long-term health<br />
conditions while encouraging local food procurement.<br />
WHAT DOES A REGULAR DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU<br />
AND LAMBETH GP FOOD CO-OP?<br />
We are a co-operative, but we are distributed across<br />
the whole borough of Lambeth, so our work is<br />
spread across a large area. One of our core activities<br />
is growing food; at the moment we are coming to<br />
the end of the growing season, so we’ll be selling<br />
our vegetables to NHS staff. Tomorrow we’re going<br />
to visit Sutton Community Farm – I hope to build<br />
a relationship with them as we’d like to increase<br />
our growing activity. On a regular day we focus on<br />
supporting patients, some of whom are members<br />
of Lambeth GP Food Co-op. Then once a month<br />
we have a co-operative activity, such as selling<br />
produce at King’s College Hospital. The idea is to<br />
create a network of NHS gardens across Lambeth<br />
HOW DID THE PROJECT START AND HOW DID YOU<br />
GET INVOLVED?<br />
The project started as an idea that was being<br />
discussed in the Department of Health to fund<br />
I’m confident that co-ops<br />
have a contribution to make<br />
to the reshaping of the health<br />
service within primary and<br />
community care<br />
pilot projects focusing on social enterprise,<br />
mutuals and co-operatives. This was in 2006.<br />
Nothing happened, but it led to some of us<br />
reflecting on how difficult it was to create co-ops<br />
and mutuals within the public sector, especially<br />
within the NHS. There just didn’t seem to be a way<br />
in or an alignment between the ideas and values<br />
of the co-operative movement as we understood<br />
it, and the NHS. The NHS has the value of ‘free<br />
at the point of need’, but has a very different<br />
organisational culture. Fast forward a bit, and<br />
in 2012 I made an initial proposal to Lambeth<br />
Council, which at that time was a co-operative<br />
council and part of the Cooperative Councils’<br />
Innovation Network. Lambeth said ‘Yes’. We<br />
then talked to the NHS in Lambeth, and they said<br />
‘Yes.’ We had three years’ funding to get it up and<br />
running, and we started with three GP surgeries<br />
in Lambeth in March 2013. Next March is our 10th<br />
anniversary.<br />
HOW MANY GP SURGERIES DO YOU WORK WITH?<br />
We started working with GPs based on the simple<br />
idea of building gardens at GP surgeries, in<br />
alleyways and unused spaces. The aim was to<br />
transform these spaces into a living and flourishing<br />
vegetable gardens for patients who have long term<br />
health conditions like diabetes and arthritis. We’ve<br />
built gardens at 13 GP surgeries in Lambeth, but not<br />
all of them were successful.<br />
At the moment we are working with five GP<br />
surgeries, and we also have vegetable gardens<br />
at two large teaching hospitals, Guy’s and St<br />
Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital.<br />
22 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
WHO ARE YOUR MEMBERS?<br />
Our members are patients, nurses, doctors,<br />
NHS staff and local residents. We’re actually<br />
starting to rethink what it means to be a member<br />
of Lambeth GP Food Co-op. So we’re going to<br />
talk about membership and different categories<br />
of membership in the autumn to create a<br />
membership drive.<br />
HOW DID THE PANDEMIC IMPACT YOUR WORK?<br />
The first wave happened in spring and we had to<br />
close all the gardens because they’re in hospitals<br />
and GP sites. We transformed our activity to support<br />
people who were self isolating. I mentioned that<br />
we were working with patients who have diabetes<br />
and arthritis; they tend to be older and a bit more<br />
isolated, because they have long-term conditions.<br />
We started working with Lambeth Council on<br />
its emergency food pack distribution network,<br />
and included a simple recipe and a pack of seeds.<br />
This was packed for us by the Co-op Group,<br />
particularly Ian (head of wine procurement ) and<br />
his friends.<br />
Then we went on to launch the Gardening at<br />
Home project, which supported 13 patients.<br />
They were given a garden at home pack and<br />
were linked with a gardening buddy who was a<br />
trained gardener and also had a background in<br />
either nursing or social work. The buddy would<br />
phone them every two weeks, asking them<br />
how they were getting on growing their tomato<br />
plant. It was important to ensure they didn’t feel<br />
abandoned by the NHS. We gave them a focus -<br />
growing plants and veg at home.<br />
The buddies weren’t clinically trained, so<br />
we kept the boundary very tight. If there was a<br />
problem, they’d come back to me or to one of the<br />
nurses who was overseeing the scheme, because<br />
they weren’t trained to deal with medical issues.<br />
They were there just to provide support for them<br />
going through that difficult first winter. So that’s<br />
what we did. We were funded externally to do<br />
that work.<br />
ONE OF THE CO-OP’S MEMBERS WAS INVOLVED<br />
IN AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE HORTICULTURAL<br />
HERITAGE OF SOUTH LONDON’S CARIBBEAN<br />
COMMUNITY. HOW DID THE PROJECT START?<br />
The project was called Sowing Roots and it was led<br />
by Janine Nelson from the Garden Museum, who<br />
also helped set up the Lambeth GP Food Co-op in<br />
2013. Lambeth GP Food Co-op community gardener<br />
Earline Hilda Castillo Binger was one of the 15<br />
gardeners interviewed as part of the project.<br />
The project journeys into the history of the<br />
gardening cultures and traditions that Caribbean<br />
people carried with them when they moved to the<br />
UK after World War II: from breadfruit, provision<br />
grounds, and botanical gardens, to chocho, ackee<br />
and the green spaces of South London. The oral<br />
history recordings are now part of the Garden<br />
Museum’s archive.<br />
WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK CO-OPS AND MUTUAL<br />
MODELS CAN PLAY WITHIN THE NHS?<br />
As the social crisis has deepened in the UK, the<br />
NHS has become more alert to the model that we<br />
have developed at Lambeth GP Food Co-op, which<br />
we share with everyone. We don’t franchise it so<br />
people in their communities can develop their own<br />
models.<br />
I’m confident that co-ops have a contribution to<br />
make to the reshaping of the health service within<br />
primary and community care. We have at least<br />
780,000 people managing long Covid-19. The GPs<br />
can’t do anything for them because it’s a long-term<br />
condition, and we don’t have a pill that cures it. We<br />
also have thousands of people who are still either<br />
self isolating, or semi self isolating at home.<br />
I think that what we’ve developed is a very first<br />
stage model around growing at home that offers<br />
a platform for thinking about developing a cooperative<br />
that is helping people improve their<br />
health and well-being when it looks hopeless. And<br />
that’s going to be really challenging, but there are<br />
many people that we’ve spoken to who we couldn’t<br />
reach out and help because we didn’t have the<br />
resources. So we’re planning to rerun the growing<br />
at home project this winter, if funding permits.<br />
Although we’re a food co-op, our activity around<br />
food is only one aspect of our work. We have plenty<br />
more ideas that we want to explore.<br />
p Members at the<br />
Jennie Lee Garden,<br />
which has been part<br />
of Lambeth GP Food<br />
Co-op since 2015<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 23
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
CY<br />
CMY<br />
K<br />
YOUR VIEWS<br />
Co-ops pay tribute to Queen<br />
Elizabeth II<br />
Moments like this certainly do bring<br />
people together (page 6-7). I was on an<br />
early shift on a Co-op food till [the day<br />
after she died], so was able to encourage<br />
discussion and reminiscing within my<br />
local community – particularly amongst<br />
the elderly, to whom the bad news hit<br />
really hard.<br />
Pam Bailey<br />
via Facebook<br />
Jo Whitfield leaves Co-op<br />
Group<br />
The departure of Jo Whitfield (right) from<br />
the Group (page 5) must be the red hot<br />
favourite for “least surprising news of<br />
the year”. I have no inside information,<br />
but I never expected her to return after<br />
giving, in my view, a flimsy reason for<br />
taking several months off. I suspect – as<br />
always – there is much that we do not<br />
know – and probably never will. It was<br />
reported that she was blindsided by the<br />
abrupt departure of Steve Murrells and the<br />
equally abrupt appointment of a new CEO,<br />
a job she had allegedly expected.<br />
David Stanbury<br />
Plymouth<br />
Have your say<br />
Add your comments to our stories<br />
online at thenews.coop, get in<br />
touch via social media, or send us<br />
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include your address and contact<br />
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Co-operative News, Holyoake<br />
House, Hanover Street,<br />
Manchester M60 0AS<br />
letters@thenews.coop<br />
@coopnews<br />
Co-operative News<br />
Co-op Women’s Voices is a series of conversations<br />
with women, who will share what has motivated<br />
them, what the challenges have been, and who has<br />
supported them along the way.<br />
Share your light<br />
Explore spirituality<br />
with a caring<br />
community<br />
TIZIANA O’HARA<br />
is a founder member at Co-operative<br />
Alternatives, a co-operative development<br />
body in Northern Ireland<br />
15.11.<strong>2022</strong><br />
l 11am GMT<br />
Q Logo - Sky - CMYK - Black Text.pdf 1 26<br />
bit.ly/3SiYcAY<br />
24 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
PREVIEW<br />
Ways Forward <strong>2022</strong> – Co-operating for Climate Solutions<br />
Why is climate justice important for the<br />
co-op movement? How can co-operation<br />
and co-operatives be seen as relevant in<br />
the climate movement? What is the best<br />
way to build effective alliances across<br />
communities that address the need for<br />
systemic change?<br />
These are some of the key questions at<br />
the Ways Forward conference on Thursday<br />
20 and Friday 21 <strong>October</strong>.<br />
Over 150 co-operators are expected to<br />
gather at Central Hall in Manchester’s<br />
Northern Quarter to share information<br />
and strengthen the co-operative networks<br />
that are needed to act on these issues.<br />
The focus of the two-day event will<br />
be “on the key role of co-operation in<br />
effective community-led responses to the<br />
climate crisis that not only enable us to<br />
take action to cut our emissions, but do so<br />
in a just way”.<br />
Speakers include Steve Graby (Greater<br />
Manchester Coalition of Disabled<br />
People), Elle Glenny (Tipping Point),<br />
Amy Hall (Bunker Housing Co-op), and<br />
representatives of Unicorn Grocery and<br />
Manchester Veg People.<br />
The event is organised by Platform 6,<br />
which supports new and existing co-ops,<br />
and encourages collaboration between<br />
‘disparate but broadly aligned’ social<br />
movements, public sector organisations,<br />
businesses and the third sector.<br />
Through a series of workshop<br />
discussions, panel sessions and plenaries,<br />
the Ways Forward conference will cover<br />
a range of topics, including energy,<br />
housing, education, disability, austerity,<br />
retrofit, food and farming, diversity and<br />
anti-racism, politics and economics.<br />
The first day of the conference will<br />
start with an opening keynote address,<br />
followed by a panel discussion and Q&A,<br />
exploring the key issues driving the<br />
conference and setting the scene for the<br />
sessions to follow. After lunch, attendees<br />
will be able to participate in parallel<br />
workshops and a closing plenary session.<br />
A social cabaret event will take place on<br />
Thursday evening, led by ‘international<br />
man of dignity’ Deacon Martin, performer<br />
and director at the Church of the Eternal<br />
question, which, according to its website,<br />
is the world’s first virtual church and<br />
“…to organised religion what anti-matter<br />
is to matter”.<br />
The focus for day two will be around<br />
the role of the public sector, through<br />
strategies such as community wealth<br />
building, in enabling co-operation at scale<br />
in pursuit of inclusive green community<br />
and economic development.<br />
Registration for the event is open<br />
now, and in an effort to make the event<br />
accessible to as many as possible, Ways<br />
Forward are offering a range of pricing<br />
options to help those on restricted<br />
budgets, as well as a number of bursaries<br />
to fund those for whom the ticket price is<br />
a barrier.<br />
People can also sign up for volunteer<br />
places. In exchange for a ticket, volunteers<br />
help out throughout the day from set-up to<br />
tidy up. Lunch will be provided, and when<br />
they aren’t needed volunteers are free to<br />
participate in the conference.<br />
This will be the 8th Ways Forward<br />
conference, after a break since Ways<br />
Forward 7 in 2019 forced by the Covid-19<br />
pandemic. Themes covered in previous<br />
<strong>edition</strong>s have included <strong>digital</strong> technology,<br />
governance, membership and people’s<br />
power in the workplace.<br />
Ways Forward highlights the role of cooperation<br />
and mutual aid in response to<br />
the pandemic, and aims to use this year’s<br />
conference to explore how best to take<br />
forward this approach in the context of<br />
the climate crisis.<br />
“As the cost of living crisis bites, the<br />
deep inequalities in our society are<br />
increasingly plain to see,” said an event<br />
spokesperson. “The need for inclusive<br />
economies and climate justice has never<br />
been clearer or more urgent.<br />
“This conference will show that effective<br />
solutions already exist, that they are built<br />
on sound values and principles, and<br />
that through wider co-operation – across<br />
communities and social movements,<br />
between public, private and third sectors –<br />
we can scale these out widely and at speed.”<br />
For further information on the<br />
programme and tickets, visit<br />
waysforward.coop<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 25
Lessons on<br />
housing<br />
from Zurich<br />
q Esther Alegre, a<br />
resident of Sostre<br />
Civic co-op in<br />
Catalonia, Spain<br />
By Anca Voinea<br />
Representatives from housing co-ops around the<br />
world met in Zurich on 22 September to explore<br />
how effective policies can foster affordable cooperative<br />
housing.<br />
The event was hosted by WBG Zurich, the<br />
largest of nine regional associations of Swiss<br />
housing co-operatives. In Zurich there are 100<br />
housing co-ops with a 23% market share of all<br />
apartments in the city. Nationally, there are 1,700<br />
limited profit housing organisations, including<br />
housing co-ops. Together these account for 10%<br />
of the total housing stock in Switzerland.<br />
In 2011, the city set a specific goal to increase<br />
the proportion of apartments by not-for-profit<br />
housing organisations from a quarter to a third<br />
of all rental apartments by 2015. This target<br />
has been met and the city still views co-ops as<br />
crucial to the promotion of affordable housing.<br />
City-led mechanisms to support housing<br />
co-ops include interest-free loans for land<br />
purchase, and free long-term renewable leases<br />
on city-owned land.<br />
Stephanie Fürer, scientific associate, Swiss<br />
Federal Office for Housing Switzerland (UNECE)<br />
said the country also supports co-ops through its<br />
Rolling Fund. Money is granted to co-ops based<br />
on the quality of dwellings, disability access<br />
and environmental considerations. This fund is<br />
administered by co-op umbrella organisations<br />
and proceeds from regular amortisations are<br />
reused for new loans.<br />
Support is also granted via the Bond Issuing<br />
Cooperative for Limited Profit Housing,<br />
established in 1991 by the Swiss government and<br />
the co-op housing movement. It raises cheap<br />
finance for non-profit house-building.<br />
“There’s close monitoring on who gets the<br />
money for what projects so the default rate is<br />
close to zero,” said Fürer, adding that the scheme<br />
has no cost to the government. “It’s something<br />
that could be copied by other countries, if there’s<br />
political will.”<br />
A key ingredient in this success is the<br />
autonomy of co-op apexes, who administer<br />
the process. “Needs are met well because the<br />
umbrella organisations know what they need –<br />
they are close to the members,” added Fürer.<br />
26 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
Julie La Palme, secretary general of Cooperative<br />
Housing International (CHI), said: “We<br />
can see the success of co-operative housing in<br />
Switzerland, and particularly, here, in Zurich ...<br />
and this is a model that is worth emulating in<br />
other parts of the world.<br />
But Sorcha Edwards, secretary general of<br />
Housing Europe, warns that increasing supply<br />
alone will not solve the housing crisis in Europe<br />
or around the world. She referred delegates to<br />
her organisation’s 2021 report on affordable<br />
housing, which looks at strategic land policy,<br />
purposeful investment and good governance.<br />
“A co-op approach to housing has to be part<br />
of the solution to this massive global crisis,” she<br />
said. “But it doesn’t come on its own. We can’t<br />
only rely on people power; the right regulatory<br />
structures and financing must in place to allow<br />
those co-operatives to flourish.”<br />
Housing Europe’s research found that the<br />
sector is more likely to promote micro grids<br />
for local renewable energy production. Some<br />
regulatory constraints prevent co-ops from using<br />
the local grid to share the energy they produce<br />
between different buildings.<br />
Legislation can also be a barrier. In East<br />
Europe, housing stock is primarily in individual<br />
ownership and there is a lack of regulatory<br />
frameworks, institutions and instruments for<br />
rental and co-op housing.<br />
Seeing that they faced common challenges,<br />
groups from Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary,<br />
Serbia and Slovenia set up MOBA Housing SCE,<br />
a European network of housing co-ops, in 2017.<br />
“Financial actors are not willing to take risks.<br />
They’re not willing to support pioneers and<br />
experimental actors, and since the sector doesn’t<br />
exist, we only have pioneers and experimental<br />
actors,” said MOBA’s Zsuzsi Pósfai.<br />
MOBA SCE set up its own Housing Development<br />
Fund in 2021 with €21,600 (£19.260) of seed<br />
capital from ABZ housing co-op in Zurich.<br />
“It looks like we will be able to add some<br />
additional seed funding from another grant into<br />
this accelerator. And from this MOBA can give<br />
short-term loans to its members,” added Pósfai.<br />
Members applying for loans have to pitch<br />
their project to MOBA, which assess its financial<br />
viability. They must pay an affordable interest<br />
on the loan to the co-op, which will cover the<br />
operational costs.<br />
In Barcelona, Sostre Civic co-op runs multiple<br />
housing projects across Catalonia, the most<br />
recent being Cirerers, launched in 2016. The city<br />
of Barcelona granted Sostre land to build housing<br />
units in Roquetas, a neighbourhood close to<br />
mountains. Residents have now moved in.<br />
“It is important to have Sostre Civic because<br />
they provide the tools that groups can then use<br />
and take decisions in their own projects,” said<br />
Esther Alegre, one of the residents of the co-op.<br />
Ander Zabala Gómez, administrative assistant<br />
of Sostre Civic, highlighted the importance of<br />
having an ethical bank to get co-op housing<br />
projects off the ground. “The solidarity economy<br />
network makes it possible for these ethical<br />
banks to exist. You need a whole ecosystem that<br />
supports each other. Traditional banks do not<br />
trust housing co-ops,” he said, adding that the<br />
city’s support through the lease of the land was<br />
also crucial to the project’s success.<br />
Some co-ops support other co-ops abroad.<br />
Switzerland’s largest housing co-op, Allgemeine<br />
Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ), runs a solidarity<br />
fund which has backed 45 projects worldwide<br />
with CHF1.35m (£1.26m) in the past three years.<br />
The symposium also explored the idea of<br />
members who can afford it paying more to<br />
subsidise the rent of members on lower income.<br />
The co-operative principle of equality can be<br />
interpreted differently by different co-ops, said<br />
Blaise Lambert, CEO of the UK's Confederation<br />
of Co-operative Housing and a board member<br />
of CHI. “There are opportunities with varying<br />
price models for people on higher incomes<br />
to be supporting people on lower or even no<br />
incomes. But again, there are some in the co-op<br />
housing world who think that that’s a complete<br />
anathema to what the model should be about –<br />
everyone paying the same.”<br />
Overall the key lessons to be drawn from the<br />
symposium were the need to have enabling<br />
legislative frameworks, supporting local and<br />
national governments, a wider co-operative<br />
ecosystem and ethical finance providers.<br />
p Julie La Palme from<br />
CHI tells delegates<br />
there are lessons to<br />
learn from Zurich<br />
A CO-OP<br />
APPROACH<br />
TO HOUSING<br />
HAS TO BE<br />
PART OF THE<br />
SOLUTION TO<br />
THIS MASSIVE<br />
GLOBAL CRISIS<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 27
Cooperation<br />
Jackson fights<br />
for a solution<br />
to the US city’s<br />
water crisis<br />
‘We must be<br />
clear about<br />
building and<br />
fighting for<br />
the practical<br />
communitybased<br />
solutions<br />
to the water and<br />
climate crisis’<br />
By Miles Hadfield<br />
In late August, around 15,000 residents in<br />
Jackson, Mississippi, were left with no access to<br />
safe drinking water after flooding knocked out a<br />
treatment plant.<br />
The crisis saw president Joe Biden declare a<br />
federal emergency to trigger aid efforts – but<br />
it has also intensified debate in the city over<br />
alleged racial discrimination, infrastructure<br />
neglect and shifting local demographics.<br />
These issues have already brought efforts<br />
to reform the city in the shape of Cooperation<br />
Jackson, a network of worker co-ops which<br />
wants to develop a series of democratic<br />
institutions to empower workers and residents,<br />
and address the needs of poor, unemployed,<br />
Black or Latino people.<br />
It has now launched the Justice 4 Jackson<br />
campaign to fix the water system and put<br />
right what it claims are “decades of systematic<br />
and intentional neglect due to environmental<br />
racism, capital flight and deindustrialisation”.<br />
“This collapse didn’t have to happen,” it<br />
says. “As a result of the city’s declining tax<br />
base over the decade, it cannot pay for the<br />
repairs by itself.”<br />
Because Jackson is home to the state capitol<br />
and serves as a base for the federal government,<br />
its water system is used by those entities, and<br />
“they must pay their fair share in overhauling<br />
and modernising the system,” the campaign<br />
argues. But, it claims, “the Republican,<br />
predominantly white, party leadership<br />
that has dominated state government for<br />
generations now, fundamentally refuses”.<br />
This echoes the frustrations of residents<br />
who argue that systemic racism has led<br />
to the neglect of a city with an 80% Black<br />
population, with local activists telling NPR<br />
they have had to boil water for decades. NPR<br />
reports the city government’s frustration that<br />
it does not receive the funds needed to fix<br />
the infrastructure, while in turn, the state<br />
government blames local mismanagement.<br />
On the part of federal government, Michael<br />
Regan, Environmental Protection Agency<br />
(EPA) administrator, said the city could be<br />
eligible for government loans and support<br />
under the Biden administration’s recent<br />
infrastructure package, but warned this would<br />
be contingent on “a plan that demonstrates<br />
how those resources will be spent”.<br />
Mississippi’s Republican state governor,<br />
Tate Reeves, declared a state of emergency<br />
in response to the water crisis on 30 August,<br />
deploying the National Guard and instructing<br />
the Mississippi Emergency Management<br />
Agency to lead the effort in distributing<br />
drinking water and non-drinking water to<br />
the city.<br />
His state government also opened seven<br />
state distribution sites to offer bottled water,<br />
bulk non-potable water and hand sanitiser.<br />
“The state is marshalling tremendous<br />
resources to protect the people of our capital<br />
city,” said Reeves. “It will take time for that<br />
to come to fruition. But we are here in times<br />
of crisis, for anyone in the state who needs it.<br />
That’s my responsibility as governor, and what<br />
my administration is committed to.”<br />
28 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
t Jackson was<br />
flooded in August<br />
when the Pearl River<br />
burst its banks after<br />
storms (Image: Getty)<br />
Water pressure was restored to the city in<br />
mid-September, but it is still unsafe to drink<br />
and needs to be boiled. Videos have been<br />
posted showing dirty water coming from<br />
taps. Some of the pipes are 100 years old and<br />
some residents have issued lawsuits claiming<br />
lead poisoning.<br />
“This water system broke over several years<br />
and it would be inaccurate to claim it is totally<br />
solved in the matter of less than a week,”<br />
added Reeves. “There may be more bad days<br />
in the future. We have, however, reached a<br />
place where people in Jackson can trust that<br />
water will come out of the faucet, toilets can<br />
be flushed and fires can be put out.”<br />
Reeves says that one option on the table is<br />
privatisation, which would see management<br />
of the water system outsourced to a contractor.<br />
Meanwhile, the city’s Democratic mayor,<br />
Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who ran for office on<br />
a radical programme, said he would consider<br />
a “maintenance agreement” with a private<br />
company to help alleviate staffing shortages,<br />
but has been vocal in his opposition to<br />
total privatisation.<br />
Privatisation is likely to be controversial<br />
with city residents, after a 2010 deal with<br />
Siemens to install water meters and oversee<br />
billing ended in fiasco, with some residents<br />
receiving no bills and others receiving<br />
inaccurate, inflated ones.<br />
Lumumba’s administration launched a<br />
lawsuit against the company which ended in<br />
February 2020 with an US$89.8m (£79.9m)<br />
settlement, but the failure of the system<br />
increased pressure on the city’s infrastructure<br />
and finances.<br />
Cooperation Jackson is calling for<br />
community-based solutions. It wants a drastic<br />
overhaul of utilities in the city and says there<br />
are decades of neglect to overcome. Its Justice<br />
4 Jackson campaign has four demands – that:<br />
• state and federal government immediately<br />
fund the complete overhaul of the Jackson<br />
water treatment and delivery systems<br />
• the new system fully remains within the<br />
democratic control of the city of Jackson<br />
• the new system be built by the people of<br />
Jackson and that over 50% of the contracts<br />
awarded be granted to either contractors<br />
from Jackson and/or Black and other minority<br />
contractors<br />
• the new system be ecologically designed and<br />
built with as many locally and or regionally<br />
sourced resources as possible.<br />
As well as seeking government action,<br />
Cooperation Jackson wants to take proactive<br />
steps to improve the situation through<br />
community action, and is proposing an<br />
emergency response and mutual aid network<br />
“that can serve our community in the event<br />
of water outages, future polar vortex freezes,<br />
tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, or massive<br />
social unrest”.<br />
The campaign adds: “The suffering<br />
communities of Jackson cannot and must<br />
not wait on state and federal redress that<br />
might not ever come, given the ongoing<br />
legacy of racial neglect. So, we must be clear<br />
about building and fighting for the practical<br />
community-based solutions to the water and<br />
climate crisis that is underneath it, that we can<br />
implement ourselves.”<br />
And it is proposing the development of<br />
community-based resources, including water<br />
catchment, treatment and delivery systems,<br />
solar farms and food networks to give Jackson’s<br />
people more sustainability and autonomy.<br />
Cooperation Jackson is calling on supporters<br />
to donate to its organisation, or to other social<br />
justice groups in the city which do work<br />
in line with its vision; to contact President<br />
Biden and their representatives in the Senate<br />
and Congress in support of the campaign’s<br />
demands; and to volunteer if they have<br />
any relevant construction skills for water<br />
catchment systems and solar installations.<br />
Co-op News has contacted the office of<br />
Tate Reeves at Mississippi state government<br />
for comment.<br />
p A campaigner for<br />
clean water<br />
This collapse<br />
didn’t have<br />
to happen ...<br />
As a result<br />
of the city’s<br />
declining tax<br />
base over<br />
the decade,<br />
it cannot pay<br />
for the repairs<br />
by itself<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 29
Electricity co-ops weigh the<br />
costs of the<br />
energy crisis<br />
THE<br />
GOVERNMENT<br />
PRICE CAP HAS<br />
INCREASED BY<br />
ALMOST £58<br />
PER MONTH FOR<br />
A TYPICAL HOME<br />
By Miles Hadfield<br />
The energy crisis is forcing price hikes around<br />
the world; in the UK, millions are in fear of fuel<br />
poverty as winter looms, and many businesses<br />
are concerned about unaffordable fuel costs,<br />
prompting new prime minister Liz Truss to<br />
announce a price cap, leaving the typical<br />
domestic bill at £2,500.<br />
The country’s biggest energy co-op, Your Co-op<br />
Energy, a joint venture between Octopus Energy<br />
and the Midcounties Co-op, has posted a Q&A<br />
for members on its website, noting that “the<br />
government price cap has increased by almost<br />
£58 per month for a typical home, which means<br />
that families all across the country are wondering<br />
how they can take control and do something to<br />
manage their energy bills”.<br />
It says it “takes great pride in our relationship<br />
with our customers and we understand that<br />
this is a strenuous time for everyone”, but adds,<br />
“tariffs have gone up this much because it costs<br />
us five times more to buy energy now compared<br />
to last year. Our new variable price is protected<br />
by the price cap.”<br />
Co-op Energy says there has been an average<br />
increase of 54% in the cost of energy price<br />
cap was last set six months ago. “If you’re<br />
coming off a fixed price, your increase may be<br />
more,” it warns.<br />
One question it addresses relates to the cost<br />
of renewable energy: the crisis was sparked by<br />
soaring gas prices resulting from the Ukraine<br />
war, but 100% renewable tariffs are also rising.<br />
Co-op Energy tells customers: “It’s down to the<br />
way the market works. The grid sets a single half<br />
hourly price for all types of energy in the system.<br />
That price often ends up based on the most<br />
expensive source in the mix which is generally<br />
gas, which is why even on green tariffs right now,<br />
gas is setting the price.”<br />
It adds that the price change only affects<br />
customers on flexible tariffs, not its fixed tariffs,<br />
and is contacting those affected to discuss their<br />
options. “We’re committed to making renewable<br />
energy affordable for everyone, so we’d prefer<br />
to never raise prices,” it adds. “Our relationship<br />
with Octopus Energy has meant that we have<br />
been able to offer alternatives during this hard<br />
financial time.”<br />
Meanwhile, Community Energy England (CEE),<br />
which represents member-owned renewables<br />
across the country, welcomed the energy cap –<br />
and suggests its members take advantage of the<br />
government advice that “companies with the<br />
wherewithall should be looking at ways they can<br />
improve energy efficiency and increase direct<br />
energy generation” by contacting local firms.<br />
But, it warns, the energy cap “does not solve<br />
the problem and comes packaged with a lot of<br />
downsides”, with millions already struggling<br />
with the cost of living. Even with the price cap,<br />
“potentially more than 7 million households will<br />
be struggling to pay energy bills – and will be<br />
going cold and/or hungry this winter”, it adds.<br />
The government’s support package could cost<br />
upward of £100bn, to be funded by borrowing<br />
and ultimately borne by the taxpayer. “This<br />
money will effectively add to the excess profits of<br />
the oil and gas giants who should be contributing<br />
to paying for it,” says CEE, criticising the<br />
decision not to levy a windfall tax on gas and oil<br />
industry profits.<br />
It is also concerned about government<br />
ambitions to increase gas sourcing from the<br />
North Sea, and to lift the ban on fracking – which<br />
would not cut the price of gas, or energy bills.<br />
“They will also temporarily suspend all ‘green<br />
levies’ on electricity bills which pay for many<br />
measures in the energy transition,” CEE adds.<br />
“They made no statement about how these<br />
things will continue to be paid for or where some<br />
of them will simply stop.”<br />
It notes the government promise of an Energy<br />
Supply Task Force “to focus action on securing<br />
domestic energy supply to reduce energy price<br />
shocks from international factors”, a fresh look<br />
30 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
at the regulatory system, and a review to ensure<br />
that Net Zero will be achieved by 2050 in a way<br />
that is pro-business and pro-growth. This will<br />
be conducted by Chris Skidmore MP, described<br />
by CEE as “a previous energy minister, who set<br />
up the Net Zero Support Group of Tory MPs to<br />
counter the [climate-sceptic] Net Zero Scrutiny<br />
Group led by Steve Baker and Craig Mackinlay”.<br />
The crisis is a global one, prompting comment<br />
from energy co-ops around the world. In the<br />
Philippines, the Association of Mindanao<br />
Electric Cooperatives (Amreco) – a coalition of 34<br />
electric co-ops – warned that the Ukraine crisis<br />
has inflated the price of the coal that generates<br />
much of the power on the island.<br />
Amreco president Jose Raul Saniel, in a<br />
statement to the press, said: “Why are we being<br />
blamed when we are just the collectors of the<br />
payments for different charges imposed by<br />
power suppliers, transmission operators, and<br />
government taxes?”<br />
Sergio Dagooc, from the Association of<br />
Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), agreed,<br />
and called on the government to take action to<br />
stop the independent power producers dictating<br />
energy prices.<br />
In the US, NRECA, the apex for rural electric<br />
co-ops, is running a weekly fuel price watch<br />
– a useful resource in a country where retail<br />
electricity rates have risen nearly 16% between<br />
August 2021 and August <strong>2022</strong>, according to the<br />
US Department of Labor.<br />
Many co-ops across the country have been<br />
forced to increase rates, but some are working<br />
to limit the impact; in Wyoming, commercial<br />
electricity rates in June <strong>2022</strong> were 20% lower<br />
than the national average – with the Basin<br />
Electric Power Cooperative board voting on<br />
10 August for a rate decrease that will save its<br />
members approximately $33.5m in 2023.<br />
General manager Todd Telesz said: “One of the<br />
unique benefits of the co-operative is that when<br />
a co-op does well financially, its members do,<br />
too. The margins generated at the co-op benefit<br />
every single member at the end of the line.”<br />
The co-op – whose electricity portfolio<br />
includes coal, gas and renewables – also<br />
voted in July to approve a US$15m (£13.3m) bill<br />
credit on members’ July power bills as well as<br />
the retirement of $13.2m (£11.75) in patronage<br />
capital credits. Wyoming news site Cowboy State<br />
Daily also reported that wholesale power co-op<br />
Tri-State reduced its rates by 2% in March 2021,<br />
and then another 2% in March <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
“The not-for-profit co-operative business<br />
model supports power affordability. With rugged<br />
terrain and fewer customers per mile, it is more<br />
(image: OgnjenO/GettyImages)<br />
expensive to deliver power in the West. Co-ops<br />
operate at cost, and return any excess revenues<br />
to their members,” said Tri-State vice-president,<br />
communications, Lee Boughey.<br />
Tri-State has been embroiled in disputes with<br />
several member co-ops which are seeking to<br />
leave before their contracts expire, because they<br />
want to diversify their sourcing to include more<br />
renewables. In response, Tri-State is looking to<br />
reduce its own reliance on fossils and industry<br />
observers hope the energy crisis will spur more<br />
efforts in the sector to transition to renewables.<br />
In a blog for the Natural Resources Defense<br />
Council, Jeffrey McManus, government affairs<br />
coordinator at the non-profit Center for Policy<br />
Advocacy, says the recent federal Inflation<br />
Reduction Act “will be a game-changer in<br />
accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels<br />
to a clean energy economy that will lower utility<br />
bills for families, support good-paying clean<br />
energy jobs, and tackle the climate crisis”.<br />
He highlights how four Republican-led states –<br />
Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas – are among<br />
those leading the way on wind power, adding that<br />
across the US as a whole, rural electric co-ops<br />
“have more than tripled their renewable capacity<br />
between 2010 to 2021”. This is partly driven by the<br />
fact that renewables are cheaper – but McManus<br />
notes that some co-ops, including Tri-State, are<br />
locked into coal contracts and are paying more<br />
for fossils than they would for renewables.<br />
The energy crisis is also helping to spur a new<br />
generation of energy co-ops in the US – this time<br />
in the cities, in the form of community solar.<br />
Among those leading the way is Solar United<br />
Neighbours, which works with communities<br />
across the US to develop neighbourhood groups<br />
of 50-100 people which can install solar panels.<br />
It lists groups in a dozen states, with more than<br />
7,500 homes investing a total of $162m (£144m).<br />
POTENTIALLY<br />
MORE THAN<br />
7 MILLION<br />
HOUSEHOLDS<br />
WILL BE<br />
STRUGGLING<br />
TO PAY ENERGY<br />
BILLS”<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 31
Retrofit<br />
revolution<br />
By Rebecca Harvey<br />
Our homes use 35% of the UK’s energy and<br />
produce 20% of its CO2 emissions. At the same<br />
time, the UK faces its worst energy bill crisis in<br />
at least 50 years – after rising living costs have<br />
already squeezed people still reeling from the<br />
2008 crash and austerity that followed.<br />
The price cap freeze and £550 in support<br />
to households recently announced by the UK<br />
government have largely been welcomed, but<br />
it’s a temporary measure; prices are projected to<br />
remain high for several years.<br />
In this context – and taking the climate<br />
crisis into consideration – retrofitting looks<br />
very appealing. When it comes to housing,<br />
retrofitting adapts existing buildings so that<br />
energy consumption and emissions are reduced,<br />
resulting in a more comfortable and healthier<br />
home with lower fuel bills. In the UK, Energy<br />
Performance Certificates (EPCs) indicate the<br />
energy efficiency of buildings, based on data<br />
about its construction materials, heating systems<br />
and insulation. Domestic EPCs are banded from<br />
A to G, where A is the most energy-efficient; the<br />
average energy efficiency rating for a dwelling in<br />
England and Wales is band D.<br />
Upgrade methods include improved<br />
insulation, airtightness and ventilation, as<br />
well as using appropriate heating and cooling<br />
systems, renewable technologies and energyefficient<br />
materials.<br />
In September, two reports asked why the<br />
government hasn’t been more supportive<br />
of retrofit.<br />
In Tackling the UK’s energy efficiency problem<br />
– What the Truss government should learn<br />
from other countries, from the Institute for<br />
Government, Rosa Hodgkin and Tom Sasse<br />
highlight how retrofit can make a real difference<br />
to the UK energy crisis – but they note that it was<br />
entirely absent from the prime minister’s plan.<br />
“The UK’s homes and buildings are among<br />
the least efficient in Europe, which is making<br />
the crisis especially painful for households<br />
and businesses,” they write. “Remarkably, the<br />
Johnson government and now, seemingly, the<br />
Truss government have ignored this so far. The<br />
case for action is even stronger now that the<br />
government will be taking such large energy<br />
costs directly on to its balance sheet.”<br />
This sentiment is echoed by Community<br />
Energy England (CEE). “Government plans have<br />
done nothing at all to correct the appalling<br />
record of the Conservative government over<br />
many years to address a key root cause of this<br />
energy crisis by retrofitting our building stock –<br />
Europe’s leakiest,” said a CEE spokesperson.<br />
“Major investment in retrofit is something<br />
that would genuinely improve domestic energy<br />
security as well as domestic health, happiness<br />
and economics. It would create employment,<br />
and reduce carbon emissions. It would protect<br />
property values, save huge health and welfare<br />
costs as well as being electorally popular. A nobrainer,<br />
you would think.”<br />
In a second report, Train local, work local,<br />
stay local: Retrofit, growth, and levelling up, the<br />
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) urges<br />
the government to look seriously at increasing<br />
the pace of retrofit – and to help communities<br />
in the process by training and employing a local<br />
cohort of specialists.<br />
“In a crisis like this, the government should be<br />
pulling every possible policy lever available to it,<br />
to reduce energy consumption, move away from<br />
32 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
gas permanently and ensure the government<br />
is not subsidising UK energy bills for years<br />
to come,” says Joshua Emden, who wrote the<br />
report. “This will require an enormous increase<br />
in the pace of retrofitting people’s homes with<br />
insulation and upgrading their boilers to heat<br />
pumps to get them off the gas grid and protect<br />
households from future price shocks.”<br />
Retrofitting the UK’s leaky, cold, and damp<br />
homes has “always been about more than just<br />
meeting net zero targets,” he says, but adds<br />
that “in the current dire economic context, it<br />
is now a critical lever in securing economic<br />
security. In addition to cutting household energy<br />
bills, the government could make retrofitting<br />
the cornerstone of its levelling up strategy by<br />
creating jobs that can be trained for and filled<br />
locally and have a substantial impact on local<br />
economies across England.”<br />
Emden states that retrofitting homes with<br />
good insulation and a heat pump as part of a<br />
whole-house approach could save households<br />
up to £430 a year on energy bills when the price<br />
cap freeze comes into force. At the same time,<br />
a retrofitting programme of £7bn per year in<br />
England could sustain over 400,000 direct jobs<br />
and 500,000 indirect jobs by 2030 and over 1.2<br />
million direct jobs and 1.5 indirect jobs by 2050.<br />
A similar move is being explored at local<br />
level by Barton Community Retrofit Cooperative<br />
(BCRC), a programme developed by Owned By<br />
Oxford, a collaboration between the city council<br />
and community groups. BCRC aims to provide<br />
retrofit services while training and upskilling<br />
local people.<br />
“We’re at a very early stage but things are<br />
beginning to take off,” says BCRC. “In the Barton<br />
area of Oxford there is poor housing stock –<br />
especially 1950s prefabs – and concerns about<br />
rising energy prices. We’re starting to recruit local<br />
builders interested in ‘learning through doing’<br />
and have a local retrofit expert to lead the team.<br />
Seed-funding has been secured from Owned by<br />
Oxford and we’re now seeking resources and one<br />
or two properties to test the model.<br />
“Our aim is to start small and build one<br />
community retrofit team, then expand and<br />
create new teams, and then replicate the model<br />
in other communities.”<br />
Co-ops are involved in the retrofitting<br />
movement in a number of other ways, from<br />
providing site analysis and renovations, to<br />
advice and guidance, and funding through green<br />
financial products.<br />
In Manchester, People Powered Retrofit was<br />
established as a Community Benefit Society<br />
in 2021, with support from the government,<br />
community energy co-operative Carbon Co-op,<br />
and design and research co-operative Urbed.<br />
It aims to “help more householders to retrofit<br />
their properties,” by offering clear, independent<br />
advice and support households to help them<br />
plan, procure and deliver retrofit projects.<br />
In February, the Confederation of Cooperative<br />
Housing (CCH), the apex body for UK housing<br />
co-ops, launched a Housing Retrofit Support<br />
Programme aiming to help members deal with<br />
ageing and energy-inefficient housing to create<br />
warm, affordable and low carbon homes.<br />
A range of support has been developed by<br />
James Neward, CCH’s in-house retrofit expert,<br />
ranging from housing stock analysis and energy<br />
assessments right through to design, planning<br />
support and on-site delivery.<br />
And in Ireland, the government has a target of<br />
upgrading 500,000 homes to B2 Building Energy<br />
Rating (BER) standard, by 2030. In February,<br />
the department of environment, climate and<br />
communications announced a raft of measures<br />
to achieve this, which will be administered by<br />
the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland<br />
(SEAI). At the Swoboda Credit Union Conference<br />
in May, SEAI’s Josephine Maguire described<br />
how the organisation works with homeowners,<br />
businesses, communities and the government to<br />
transform how people think about, generate and<br />
use energy – and highlighted how credit unions<br />
are vital to this work.<br />
“[Credit unions] are in every community and<br />
every locality,” she said. “They are central to<br />
communities and can be involved in demand<br />
generation campaigns, look at supply chains<br />
and help to bring low-cost financing into the<br />
market for home retrofit.”<br />
p Carbon Co-op<br />
workers retrofit a<br />
property<br />
IN A CRISIS<br />
LIKE THIS, THE<br />
GOVERNMENT<br />
SHOULD BE<br />
PULLING EVERY<br />
POSSIBLE<br />
POLICY LEVER<br />
AVAILABLE TO IT<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 33
The cost of borrowing<br />
Credit unions as an<br />
alternative to unethical<br />
sources of finance<br />
p A Leeds Credit<br />
Union branch at<br />
Kirkgate Market<br />
(Image: Leeds Credit<br />
Union)<br />
By Anca Voinea<br />
Credit unions around the world are doing<br />
their bit to help with the cost of living crisis by<br />
providing low-cost loans.<br />
A March <strong>2022</strong> report by the Centre for Social<br />
Justice, an independent UK think-tank, identified<br />
credit unions as a key player in the affordable<br />
finance ecosystem which could help vulnerable<br />
people. It found that 62% of those who became<br />
victims of loan sharks had an income of below<br />
£20,000 a year, with about half of this number<br />
on less than £15,000. It also revealed that 66%<br />
also had debts owing to legal creditors and 75%<br />
were on benefits.<br />
In June, Bank of England figures showed that<br />
credit card borrowing had risen by £740m month<br />
on month,13% higher than the year before and<br />
the biggest year-on-year rise since <strong>October</strong> 2005.<br />
And research by SmartMoney found that two<br />
in five UK adults will take out a new form of<br />
credit in the next year, and they predict they will<br />
need an average of £5,250 each.<br />
The Co-op Credit Union in Manchester has<br />
raised concerns about the mental and physical<br />
health impact of the crisis. A recent survey of<br />
its members found two-thirds of respondents<br />
were either “very” or “extremely” worried about<br />
the cost of living; 14% had skipped meals,<br />
and another 14% had used all their savings.<br />
Around 8.5% reported difficulty with debts.<br />
These challenges have left their mark, with 57%<br />
reporting a deterioration in their mental health.<br />
In light of these challenges, 54% of<br />
respondents acknowledged the value of their<br />
credit union membership, saying that its services<br />
have helped them through the crisis so far.<br />
Matt Bland, chief executive at the Co-op<br />
Credit Union, said: “These survey results paint<br />
a sobering picture of the real-life health impact<br />
that the cost-of-living crisis is having on our<br />
members, the majority of whom are earning low<br />
incomes in part-time retail work.<br />
“The recent announcement from government<br />
on freezing energy unit prices is of course a very<br />
welcome intervention. But our survey reflects<br />
the impact that the increases we’ve already seen<br />
are having on our members' lives and those of<br />
their families. This suggests that more targeted<br />
support is needed for the poorest.<br />
“It is very encouraging for us to see the<br />
positive impact our services have for people<br />
struggling to cope with a once-in-a-generation<br />
crisis. We are doing everything we can to support<br />
members through our core savings and loan<br />
services as well as providing tools and support to<br />
help people budget and maximise their income<br />
through benefits and tax credits.<br />
“We call on government and its agencies to<br />
do everything it can to support those on low<br />
incomes to find a sustainable way through the<br />
crisis. We also call on government and bodies<br />
like Fair 4 All Finance to consider what they<br />
might do to help credit unions and other social<br />
lenders to expand their services to support lowincome<br />
households. In many ways, the current<br />
crisis is more damaging than Covid-19 was for<br />
low-income households and we need a response<br />
on an equivalent scale.”<br />
Similar concerns were expressed by Leeds<br />
Credit Union, which warns locals not to turn<br />
to unethical lenders. “We are acutely aware<br />
of the challenges facing many members of<br />
society during these tough times,” it said. “As<br />
a long-established credit union, we are used to<br />
supporting our members throughout challenging<br />
periods and proudly continue to do so today.<br />
34 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
“If you or someone you know is struggling<br />
financially, we would advise you to talk to your<br />
local credit union as soon as possible. As well<br />
as providing a range of financial products at<br />
reasonable and affordable rates and savings<br />
accounts to help build financial resilience, credit<br />
unions offer holistic help and advisory services<br />
that can help anyone at risk of becoming<br />
financially vulnerable.<br />
“Under no circumstances should you turn to<br />
unscrupulous lenders or loan sharks.”<br />
Debt is also a concern in Ireland, where an<br />
annual school-costs survey from the Irish League<br />
of Credit Unions (ILCU) found that parents<br />
are spending an average of €1,195 (£1,045) per<br />
primary school child, €9 (£7.87) more than the<br />
previous year. Around 89% of parents said the<br />
rising cost of living had impacted their income<br />
or household costs.<br />
And 61% said the increasing cost of food for<br />
school lunches was having the biggest impact<br />
on their budget. Around 9% of respondents said<br />
they would consider a payday loan company,<br />
with one in 10 (8%) of parents knowingly<br />
considering an illegal moneylender. A quarter of<br />
all respondents in this group didn’t know if their<br />
potential moneylender was legal or not.<br />
ILCU head of communications, Paul Bailey,<br />
said: “The rising costs of living will heavily<br />
impact households across Northern Ireland this<br />
winter. This is evident by the sharp increase in<br />
parents cancelling extracurricular activities and<br />
sacrificing the family holiday to meet the costs of<br />
back to school. What is particularly concerning is<br />
the increase in the number of parents reporting<br />
that they will go into debt to send their children<br />
to school.<br />
“I would urge parents who feel they have no<br />
alternative to a moneylender to talk to their local<br />
credit union about accessing more affordable<br />
and ethical forms of finance.”<br />
In the USA, new legislation is being considered<br />
to protect consumers from debt. Congresswoman<br />
Carolyn B. Maloney has introduced the Overdraft<br />
Protection Act, which would limit the number<br />
of overdraft fees banks can charge to one per<br />
month and six per year.<br />
But the Credit Union National Association<br />
(Cuna) is critical, warning a curb on fees would<br />
limit credit unions’ ability to help members.<br />
Cuna president/CEO Jim Nussle wrote in a<br />
letter to the committee: “The best and least<br />
disruptive path forward would be to continue<br />
permitting transactions to be processed and<br />
encouraging affected consumers to reach out to<br />
and work with their local credit union to reduce<br />
or eliminate any fees or to consider other lowcost<br />
products and services. Relying on credit<br />
unions to do what they do best is preferable to<br />
an environment where consumers are getting<br />
declined in line at the grocery store or pharmacy<br />
or experience their rent check unpaid.”<br />
The National Federation of Federally Insured<br />
Credit Unions (Nafcu) also opposes the bill,<br />
arguing that “any legislative efforts that<br />
eliminate overdraft protection programmes are<br />
likely to have a significant negative impact on<br />
borrowers who value these programmes.”<br />
Back in the UK, some credit unions are<br />
partnering with charities or providing training on<br />
how to manage budgets. Bradford District Credit<br />
Union (BDCU) recently backed the FoodSavers<br />
campaign run by Inn Churches, a councilfunded<br />
project which has 10 outlets around the<br />
city offering low-cost food with members able to<br />
save into their BDCU accounts. Members have so<br />
far saved over £4,000.<br />
A financial wellbeing project funded by<br />
Somerset Council has also involved credit unions<br />
in the county and works to give people the tools<br />
to understand and manage their finances better.<br />
Through the scheme, charities, organisations<br />
and credit unions offer free expert and<br />
confidential help, with free information, events,<br />
and training to local residents and employees of<br />
Somerset businesses who face financial anxiety.<br />
The initiative is backed by Westcountry<br />
Savings & Loans, Great Western Credit Union,<br />
Somerset Community Credit Union, and Mendip<br />
Community Credit Union.<br />
Similarly, Wave Community Bank in Hove, UK,<br />
runs webinars to provide free tips to members on<br />
how to manage monthly budgets, control their<br />
debt and check what benefits are available.<br />
But credit unions also worry about the impact<br />
of the crisis on their sustainability.<br />
Robert Kelly, CEO of the Association of British<br />
Credit Unions (Abcul) said: “Abcul is acutely<br />
aware of the potential seismic negative impact<br />
that the cost-of-living crisis may have on our<br />
member credit unions and the individual<br />
members they serve across.<br />
“We are devising a strategic lobbying plan that<br />
will include discussions and negotiations with<br />
a range of stakeholder groups and direct input<br />
from member credit unions on how best to shape<br />
our messaging and support services.<br />
“As always, Abcul stands ready to support<br />
our member credit unions in building<br />
and maintaining financial resilience. Our<br />
sustainability will be a critical factor in our<br />
future success but there is no doubt that the<br />
months ahead will create significant challenges<br />
to the credit union sector as a whole.”<br />
THESE SURVEY<br />
RESULTS PAINT<br />
A SOBERING<br />
PICTURE OF<br />
THE REAL-LIFE<br />
HEALTH IMPACT<br />
THAT THE<br />
COST-OF-LIVING<br />
CRISIS<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 35
Credit unions<br />
provide a lifeline<br />
in the cost of living crisis<br />
q The Co-op Bank<br />
has seen a wave of<br />
branch closures<br />
Facing page: Abcul<br />
CEO Robert Kelly<br />
By Paul Gosling<br />
Credit union membership and lending have<br />
increased significantly in response to the cost<br />
of living of crisis. This growth in lending is<br />
despite a rationalisation process that has seen<br />
the closure of weaker unions, leading to a fall in<br />
their total number.<br />
According to Bank of England statistics<br />
published in August, the number of adult<br />
members of UK credit unions has risen to an<br />
all-time high of 1.93 million. But the starkest<br />
increase was in loans to borrowers, which<br />
jumped by 18.9% to £785m last year, in<br />
England alone.<br />
But net liabilities in arrears in England<br />
also increased, to £65.5m – a rise of 9.5% in a<br />
year. Across the UK, the arrears figures were<br />
better, falling slightly. Other positive indicators<br />
included a big increase in government support<br />
for credit unions in Scotland, while credit union<br />
assets rose by 7% in Northern Ireland and by<br />
9.5% in Wales.<br />
These figures were welcomed by Abcul,<br />
the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd.<br />
“Credit unions are building financial resilience<br />
in households and communities all across the<br />
country and helping consumers manage their<br />
finances in a hugely positive way,” says its<br />
CEO, Robert Kelly. He adds: “Credit unions will<br />
continue to serve communities and employers<br />
in these testing times through the provision of<br />
ethical and responsible products and services<br />
– our mantra of people helping people will<br />
continue to be the bedrock of everything we do.”<br />
The Irish League of Credit Unions, which<br />
has 85 member unions in Northern Ireland,<br />
says it is too early to observe the impact of the<br />
financial crisis in the most recent statistics from<br />
June this year. “Those figures do not show any<br />
significant increases in membership,” says a<br />
spokeswoman, “however, it’s worth noting that<br />
membership in Northern Ireland is much higher<br />
than the rest of the UK, with more than a third of<br />
adults (536,000) holding an account with their<br />
local credit union.”<br />
The League’s affiliated unions in Northern<br />
Ireland hold assets of over £1.83bn, of which over<br />
£582m is out on loan. The member unions “are<br />
extremely well positioned to deal with increased<br />
demand for loans as a result of the cost of living<br />
crisis,” says the ILCU spokeswoman.<br />
She adds that member unions provide a range<br />
of financial and practical support to members.<br />
“Credit unions will continue to do what they<br />
always have, which is to prioritise the needs of<br />
their members. At this time, with a recession<br />
forecast, and households facing soaring costs<br />
for utilities, groceries and fuel, credit unions<br />
will do everything they can to support members<br />
struggling. Whether that is through providing<br />
access to affordable credit, or working with<br />
individual borrowers struggling to manage their<br />
repayments.<br />
“What we are seeing currently is a smaller<br />
growth in savings, which is likely to be a<br />
combination of members using their savings, or<br />
indeed having less to save.<br />
“Demand for loans has also risen, with an<br />
annual growth of 7.7% (June 21 – June 22).<br />
Anecdotally, we understand there to be a shift<br />
36 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
CREDIT UNIONS<br />
WILL CONTINUE<br />
TO DO WHAT<br />
THEY ALWAYS<br />
HAVE, WHICH IS<br />
TO PRIORITISE<br />
THE NEEDS<br />
OF THEIR<br />
MEMBERS”<br />
in demand, particularly noted by credit unions<br />
in areas of higher deprivation. There is a rise<br />
in loan applications for smaller amounts, and<br />
taken to cover necessities such as household<br />
items, back-to-school costs, or bills.”<br />
Those financial pressures have caused credit<br />
unions to extend their support in more practical<br />
ways, too. For example, some credit unions –<br />
such as Glasgow’s Carntyne and Riddrie Credit<br />
Union – have set up food banks. Many refer<br />
members in difficulty to external specialist<br />
money advisors, while others encourage<br />
budgeting as part of improved personal financial<br />
management.<br />
In addition to financial hardship, increased<br />
demand for credit union services has been<br />
driven by the closure programmes of both banks<br />
and Post Office branches, especially in rural<br />
areas. Analysis by Retail Banker International<br />
found that the major banks, plus Nationwide<br />
Building Society, had closed 4,644 branches in<br />
the period 2007 to early 2021. (The bank with<br />
the highest percentage of branch closures was<br />
the Co-operative Bank, which closed over 85%<br />
of its branches – cutting the network from 355<br />
branches to just 50.)<br />
While the intention, and public relations<br />
narrative, behind many banks’ branch closure<br />
programmes was the transfer of transactions<br />
from bank to Post Office branches, the reality<br />
has often been different. A report from Citizens<br />
Advice earlier this year found widespread<br />
short and medium-term closures of Post<br />
Office branches. Over 80% of those which are<br />
‘temporarily closed’ in practice do not reopen<br />
within a year.<br />
Credit unions have, in some instances,<br />
become the only financial institution in the<br />
village, or even town. And expansion in credit<br />
union business has also resulted from changes<br />
in the lending markets, which have reduced the<br />
options for many borrowers. Stronger regulation<br />
and large losses have combined to eat savagely<br />
into the payday lending sector.<br />
More than 50 of the high-cost, short-term,<br />
payday lenders, including market leader Wonga,<br />
have ceased trading in recent years. This created<br />
a void that credit unions have helped to fill.<br />
Despite this, the right-wing think tank the Centre<br />
for Social Justice (CSJ) warns that there remain<br />
more than 3 million people reliant on high-cost<br />
credit in the UK, with around 23 million adults<br />
not believing they will be able to save anything<br />
in the next few years.<br />
In its report Swimming with Sharks, published<br />
in March this year, the CSJ argued that credit<br />
unions should meet the needs of many of this<br />
cohort that are in serious difficulties. It made a<br />
series of proposals designed to increase the role<br />
and capacity of credit unions to support people<br />
currently dependent on illegal loan sharks.<br />
It concluded that more than a million people<br />
are victims of informal, high-interest, lending,<br />
which is typically associated with criminal<br />
gangs. The report calls for deregulation of credit<br />
unions to enable them to increase their lending.<br />
A combination of factors is placing credit<br />
unions nearer to the heart of the low-cost loans<br />
market. But it is obvious that many of those<br />
who are now borrowing will have difficulty in<br />
repaying. That may be a tough challenge for<br />
borrowers and lenders.<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 37
The<br />
Bevy<br />
The community<br />
pub finding ways<br />
to mix it up in<br />
response to the<br />
cost of living<br />
crisis<br />
By Alice Toomer-McAlpine<br />
As we head into winter amid a cost of living<br />
crisis, many of us will be thinking of ways to<br />
tighten our belts and cut spending, perhaps by<br />
staying in more and foregoing trips to the pub.<br />
Businesses across the hospitality industry are<br />
experiencing similar challenges, as they face<br />
soaring costs and feel the pinch of consumers’<br />
shrinking budgets.<br />
One such business is co-operative pub the<br />
Bevy, in Brighton. The pub’s chair, Warren<br />
Carter, explains some of the difficulties it<br />
has been facing due to increased costs and<br />
lower footfall.<br />
“We’re always looking at cutting costs,” he<br />
says. “But our biggest cost is wages and we’re<br />
a Brighton Living Wage employer, so people get<br />
over 10 quid an hour to work with us. Instead,<br />
we’ve had to cut down on hours. On Saturdays,<br />
we don’t open until 3pm now unless there’s an<br />
Albion game, just because it was so quiet.<br />
“We’re talking about just closing totally on a<br />
Monday now, having no groups or anything. Just<br />
try not to open the door, try not to put on lights.”<br />
The Bevy recently released an online statement<br />
addressing the cost of living crisis, but the focus<br />
was less on the problems it faces as a business,<br />
and more on what it is offering its community,<br />
from lunch clubs and school uniform repair<br />
to free kids’ activities. Despite the immense<br />
challenges the Bevy is facing, it does have one<br />
ace up its sleeve that it is leveraging for the good<br />
of its business and its customers: its status as a<br />
community-owned pub.<br />
“It’s very worrying, but on the flip side, I<br />
think we’re lucky because we are communitybased,”<br />
says Carter. It was bought by local<br />
residents in 2014 after four years of closure, and<br />
ever since has acted as a hub for the benefit of<br />
the community. “Basically we’re a community<br />
centre where you can have beers.”<br />
During the summer holidays, the Bevy hosted<br />
a series of free kids’ events with activities and<br />
free food and drink for the children. Carter<br />
describes that kind of work as “part of our DNA”,<br />
which provides a win-win for the Bevy and its<br />
customers. The pub is able to access funding to<br />
run community events, which benefits locals, as<br />
well as increasing footfall in the pub.<br />
“We know we need to offer this so people can<br />
afford to come to the pub,” says Carter. “We’ll get<br />
grants to do free holiday stuff and free kids’ parties<br />
and things.<br />
“Rather than a day out being £40 or £50 with<br />
a load of children, you could either come and<br />
spend nothing, or you can go, ‘You know what, I<br />
can actually afford to have a couple of beers. My<br />
children are having a nice time.’”<br />
As well as events, the Bevy has been looking<br />
at creative ways they can make it easier for cashstrapped<br />
punters to enjoy a drink with them,<br />
including changing its beer supplier to enable<br />
them to offer a £4 pint.<br />
The Bevy also embraces partnership work<br />
with other aligned organisations, such as East<br />
Brighton Food Co-op, which delivers meals<br />
to vulnerable people in the area, and who are<br />
moving into the Bevy’s kitchen to work together.<br />
38 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
Carter explains that this kind of co-operation<br />
has been part of the way the Bevy has worked<br />
from the start, and has been a way it naturally<br />
responds to crises – with the pandemic being the<br />
last example.<br />
“Covid was just another thing that we could<br />
rally around. We went to a meeting that was<br />
called three days before lockdown. There were<br />
20 organisations there from local churches,<br />
food banks, community gardens, the local<br />
secondary school and the local primary school.<br />
All of us got together and went, ‘How are we<br />
going to tackle this?’<br />
“I think that’s the key, the Bevy doesn’t stand<br />
alone. We work with everyone to support people.<br />
“The East Brighton Food Co-op was a total<br />
example of that. We thought: ‘We’ve both got<br />
the same ethos. We can’t make our kitchen work,<br />
you’re delivering 900 meals and need a kitchen<br />
space – you move in with us and we’ll partner.’”<br />
When it comes to the Bevy’s customers,<br />
Warren explains that not all of them have been<br />
affected by rising costs in the same way, but the<br />
Bevy’s aim is to be a place where everyone can<br />
come and join in.<br />
“A lot of our regulars are builders and stuff<br />
like that, and they’ve not really been clobbered.<br />
It’s the people who only come occasionally, who<br />
can’t usually afford to go out that we think, that’s<br />
not fair.”<br />
The Bevy sits on a housing estate in<br />
Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, a neighbourhood<br />
with high levels of economic deprivation. Carter<br />
points out that, with many children at the<br />
local school receiving free school meals, family<br />
visits to the local pub can easily become an<br />
unaffordable luxury.<br />
“We’re always thinking of ways to not just<br />
make money but to make sure that people can<br />
enjoy life, you know that crazy thing – where<br />
you’re not just working, coming home, paying<br />
bills, then going back to work. We’re the sixthrichest<br />
nation in the world – that’s not how<br />
people should be living. And unfortunately,<br />
we’re ruled by people who have no idea what it’s<br />
like to be skint.”<br />
Though it tends to stay out of party politics,<br />
the Bevy’s co-op model is, by its nature,<br />
political, says Carter. “We’ve always tried to stay<br />
apolitical. And, to me, that just seems right, you<br />
know, but also I think we are political by being<br />
a co-operative pub. No one was going to help,<br />
no one was going to reopen that boozer. It was<br />
closed for reasons and different people looked<br />
at it and thought, ‘We can’t make money out of<br />
this’. So to me, getting off your ass and making a<br />
difference in your community is political.”<br />
Beyond the immediate crisis that the Bevy<br />
and its community are facing, the bigger issue,<br />
Carter points out, is that it is still the only<br />
co-operative pub on a housing estate.<br />
“Most community pubs are in posh villages<br />
and stuff like that. There’s nothing wrong with<br />
that, but there have been millions pumped<br />
into that and actually, it’s so hard in workingclass<br />
areas to get things like this off the ground<br />
because of the lack of capital to start them and<br />
then to keep them running.”<br />
As a pub that was born out of adversity, the<br />
rising cost of living is seen by the Bevy as “just<br />
another thing for us to deal with”.<br />
“We’ve always struggled as a pub to make<br />
ends meet, which is sort of why our ethos from<br />
the beginning was to be more than a pub, to be<br />
like a community centre pub,” says Carter. “So it<br />
will be a struggle for us. But it’s always a struggle<br />
for us.”<br />
As a pub that<br />
was born out<br />
of adversity,<br />
the rising cost<br />
of living is<br />
seen by The<br />
Bevy as “just<br />
another thing<br />
for us to deal<br />
with”<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 39
Co-ops and<br />
the cost of<br />
living crisis<br />
The United<br />
Nations<br />
Development<br />
Programme<br />
estimates that<br />
an additional<br />
71 million people<br />
could be pushed<br />
into poverty due<br />
to the cost of<br />
living crisis<br />
By Anca Voinea<br />
The United Nations Development Programme<br />
(UNDP) estimates that an additional 71 million<br />
people around the world face being pushed into<br />
poverty. The worst affected countries include<br />
Armenia and Uzbekistan in Central Asia; Burkina<br />
Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan in sub-<br />
Saharan Africa; Haiti in Latin America; and<br />
Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia.<br />
And a May Ipsos poll for the World Economic<br />
Forum found one in four people struggling<br />
financially in 11 developed countries.<br />
Co-ops are stepping up to help cushion the<br />
blow – and they have a number of tools at their<br />
disposal, from staff bonuses to price controls.<br />
In Italy, where inflation has hit 8.4%,<br />
consumer co-op Nova is allocating a €200<br />
(£174) bonus for 5,000 employees. NovaAeg, a<br />
company active in the electricity and gas sector<br />
that is owned by Nova Coop, has extended this<br />
bonus to its employees.<br />
Meanwhile, Norwegian retailer Coop is<br />
introducing a price ceiling on 200 everyday<br />
products for the rest of the year, keeping them at<br />
the current level or lower.<br />
“In a time of strong inflation, consumerowned<br />
Coop has a responsibility to help<br />
maintain Norwegians’ purchasing power,” said<br />
Håvard Jensen, director of the iCoop Norway<br />
chain. “When our suppliers increased our<br />
purchase prices sharply with effect from 1 July,<br />
we withheld parts of the price increase from the<br />
consumer. We are now further contributing to<br />
contain inflation by introducing price caps.”<br />
The measure also applies to discount chains<br />
Extra and Obs!, the supermarket chain Coop<br />
Mega and the convenience stores Coop Prix,<br />
Coop Marked and Matkroken.<br />
“We have used our unique customer insight<br />
to select 200 popular everyday products within,<br />
among other things, fruit and vegetables, fresh<br />
produce, dinner and cold cuts,” added Jensen.<br />
“The list includes both Coop’s own brands and<br />
brands from our suppliers.”<br />
A similar initiative was undertaken by retail<br />
co-op NTUC Fairprice in Singapore, which<br />
provided a special discount on Pasar Fresh Eggs<br />
(30s) in April. Between 25 May and 1 June the<br />
40 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
group also offered a special discount of 10% for<br />
four popular cooking oil products for a week. The<br />
retailer recently announced a wage structure to<br />
help increase the salaries of workers (see Global<br />
News, p18).<br />
In the UK, where inflation has climbed to its<br />
highest rate in 40 years, one in seven adults says<br />
they cannot afford to eat every day – an increase<br />
of 57% since January.<br />
Retailers John Lewis and Waitrose, which<br />
belong to employee-owned John Lewis<br />
Partnership, are offering free food to all Partners<br />
and temporary workers from 3 <strong>October</strong> to 6<br />
January to help with the cost of living. The two<br />
businesses will offer staff members working a<br />
four-hour shift one free meal – breakfast, lunch<br />
or dinner – depending on the time of day.<br />
Those working an eight-hour shift can<br />
choose two meals. The meals offered will vary<br />
depending on the type of activity performed and<br />
the workplace. Those working in larger stores,<br />
head offices and distribution centres will have<br />
their meals in canteens. Long-distance lorry<br />
drivers would pre-order packed lunches and<br />
staff in smaller convenience stores would receive<br />
sandwiches or salads.<br />
Some co-ops and mutuals are making direct<br />
payments to help their workers. Nationwide<br />
Building Society is giving more than 11,000 staff<br />
who earn £35,000 or less per year a £1,200 oneoff<br />
payment. It also introduced a 4.5% pay rise<br />
for all staff earlier this year and raised the base<br />
salaries of 4,000 of its lowest paid workers by<br />
around 5% at the end of March.<br />
In addition to providing financial support,<br />
Nationwide will offer cost-of-living training to<br />
all frontline staff.<br />
CEO Debbie Crosbie said: “The months<br />
ahead will be worrying for many people and<br />
we’re always considering new ways to help our<br />
members. But rising prices affect our colleagues<br />
too and that’s why we’re providing this<br />
additional support.”<br />
Other co-ops are making a difference by<br />
supporting vulnerable communities. Co-op<br />
Holidays, which is part of the Midcounties’ Co-op<br />
Travel Group, is working with charity Go Beyond<br />
to enable vulnerable children from across the<br />
UK have a getaway break. Over the past year the<br />
initiative benefited more than 760 children aged<br />
8-15, who are facing serious challenges in their<br />
everyday lives, such as bereavement, abuse,<br />
bullying, poverty or being a carer for loved ones.<br />
The breaks include a mix of residential stays<br />
and day visits where children can have new<br />
experiences, learn skills or make new<br />
friends free of charge.<br />
Co-op Holidays is also donating £1 per<br />
passenger to the charity for every holiday<br />
package booked. Over the past year, the travel<br />
group has made a £50,000 donation to help<br />
offset any impact of the coronavirus pandemic<br />
from holiday booking donations.<br />
Co-op Holidays has pledged to donate a further<br />
£50,000 to the charity to mark their second year<br />
of the partnership.<br />
Sara Dunham, chief officer of Travel and<br />
Leisure at Midcounties, said: “We’re thrilled to<br />
be partnering with Go Beyond for a second year.<br />
As a travel business, we recognise how important<br />
a break can be for your mental health, so it’s<br />
great to be able to provide these getaways for<br />
young people who face challenging situations<br />
every day.<br />
“Not only that, but as part of a co-operative,<br />
supporting our local communities is at the<br />
heart of everything we do. We’re so proud to be<br />
able to support Go Beyond thanks to the help<br />
of our holidaymakers and it’s great to see firsthand<br />
how we’re helping young people create<br />
‘forever moments’, grow in confidence and make<br />
new friends.”<br />
Such measures help, but the world is in this for<br />
the long haul. Economists warn that the cost of<br />
living crisis is likely to last until the second half<br />
of 2023. NielsenIQ estimates that UK consumers<br />
will add an additional £500 to their overall food<br />
spend this year while those in the US will add an<br />
additional $481 to their total grocery food bill.<br />
According to NielsenIQ’s research, external<br />
pressures on consumers’ day-to-day spending<br />
differ around the world.<br />
In some markets, inflation affects multiple<br />
categories while in others price increases are<br />
isolated to just a few categories.<br />
While these trends continue, co-operatives<br />
will have an increasingly important role to<br />
play in meeting their members’ needs<br />
and helping communities cope with<br />
the cost of living crisis.<br />
Norwegian<br />
retailer Coop<br />
is introducing<br />
a price<br />
ceiling on<br />
200 everyday<br />
products for<br />
the rest of the<br />
year<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 41
Food co-ops and the<br />
cost of living crisis<br />
By Alice Toomer-McAlpine<br />
The cost of living crisis is putting pressure on<br />
the UK’s co-operative grocers – so much so that<br />
some have already had to shut their doors.<br />
Wild Thyme Wholefoods, a workers’ co-op<br />
in Portsmouth, announced on 7 September<br />
“the sad truth” that it could no longer carry on<br />
trading. “Increased rent, rising rates and higher<br />
energy prices coupled with lower sales mean<br />
we cannot cover our basic costs any more,” a<br />
statement on Facebook read.<br />
Rice Up Wholefoods in Southampton put out<br />
a similar statement in August, saying that rent<br />
demands and energy bills, “along with all the<br />
other challenges we have faced in the last few<br />
years as an independent has culminated in us<br />
having to reach the terribly difficult and sad<br />
decision to close for good.”<br />
Those still in business face a perfect storm<br />
of soaring running costs, increased wholesale<br />
prices and smaller takings.<br />
The 8th Day worker co-op, a health food shop<br />
and cafe in Manchester, celebrated its 52nd<br />
birthday this month. It opened in a decade facing<br />
similar challenges to the present day – such as<br />
fuel shortages, inflation and mass industrial<br />
action. More recently, 8th Day has weathered<br />
upheavals such as the 2008 financial crash,<br />
Brexit and the Covid pandemic.<br />
Worker member Jeniya Marsh says that while<br />
the co-op has always experienced “dips and<br />
troughs”, the current crisis feels somehow<br />
different. “I’ve kind of got the feeling that this<br />
might be a bit longer lasting.…It’s so many<br />
different things at the same time.”<br />
Energy costs for businesses like 8th Day have<br />
doubled. The prospect of further increases has<br />
prompted the government to place a cap on<br />
household energy bills for the next two years,<br />
and businesses’ bills for the next six months, as<br />
part of its Energy Bill Relief Scheme. But with<br />
millions of households still being left in fuel<br />
poverty, coupled with the 11.4% increase in food<br />
prices in the past year, customers will be making<br />
some very difficult spending decisions.<br />
Reduced footfall as customers face the<br />
squeeze is a particular concern for stores like<br />
8th Day, which can be seen as non-essential<br />
spending by some customers. While 8th Day has<br />
its regulars, other customers are better described<br />
as “fair-weather” buyers.<br />
“When they’ve got disposable income, they’ll<br />
come and spend it with us,” says Marsh, “but<br />
if they’re short of cash, then of course they’re<br />
going to just go and do their shopping at the<br />
cheapest supermarket they can find.”<br />
Recent research from Kantar has found a drop<br />
in “eco-active” customers – the kind of shoppers<br />
likely to be found in a store like 8th Day, seeking<br />
42 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
sustainable and organic products. In the UK,<br />
eco-active shoppers have reduced by 3% in the<br />
past year. To make matters worse, suppliers have<br />
been forced to put up prices, as raw ingredients<br />
and transport become more expensive.<br />
“The cost of bringing products into the UK has<br />
also gone up,” says Ms Marsh. “Obviously, that’s<br />
not just to do with inflation here. That’s to do<br />
with Brexit and increases that have been passed<br />
on to wholesalers and importers. Especially<br />
when you’re bringing in goods from the EU now.”<br />
Co-operative wholesaler Essential Trading, in<br />
Bristol, supplies a number of shops and cafés<br />
in the city and across the UK. Essential’s Lee<br />
Nottle explains that while the current situation<br />
is challenging, Essential’s experience during the<br />
2008 crash has left it in a more resilient position.<br />
“Since then, there’s been a lot of effort made<br />
to make sure that we have some sort of financial<br />
safeguarding in place,” he says, “so that if<br />
something similar were to happen, we wouldn’t<br />
be impacted in the same way. So we’re in a<br />
fortunate position at the moment.”<br />
Essential’s stockists are concerned about the<br />
situation, says Nottle. “The Energy Bill Relief<br />
Scheme is probably going to help a lot of our<br />
customers a lot. For some however I think this<br />
announcement came too late. We’ve seen a few<br />
closures this year as the predictions for the winter<br />
months were looking fairly bleak. However, I do<br />
feel it may help the unease surrounding small<br />
businesses right now.”<br />
The ethical food co-op sector also faces<br />
growing competition from supermarkets, as<br />
well as health chains such as Holland and<br />
Barrett. Marsh says 8th Day is keen to champion<br />
independent health and wholefood businesses.<br />
“We regularly pass customers on to other<br />
independent businesses, who we think suit<br />
their needs better. And we encourage customers<br />
to look for more environmentally friendly<br />
businesses, which are generally smaller.”<br />
In a similar vein, Essential has launched the<br />
Support Our Independents campaign, working<br />
with customers to promote their work, share<br />
their stories and highlight why it is important to<br />
shop with independent businesses.<br />
“We just wanted to share what makes these<br />
businesses really unique and wonderful,” says<br />
Nottle. “We’ve got such a range of customers, all<br />
of which are different.”<br />
The first business to be profiled in the<br />
campaign is Bristol vegan doughnut shop Future<br />
Doughnuts, and more will be profiled in the<br />
coming weeks.<br />
“I think we all just want to help each other,”<br />
says Nottle, “and we want to help our customers<br />
and our local community. I think that’s a large<br />
part of what being a co-op is.”<br />
Both 8th Day and Essential are worker co-ops.<br />
Sometimes this can mean difficult decisions,<br />
such as 8th Day’s agreement to take a voluntary<br />
pay cut at the beginning of the pandemic –<br />
which is still in effect.<br />
“It was a decision we made collectively,<br />
because we wanted to make sure we could keep<br />
as many staff employed as possible,” says Marsh.<br />
“Decision making can be laboriously slow. But<br />
at the same time, because you’ve got a shared<br />
ownership of the business, there’s a shared<br />
will to try and make things work. And so in that<br />
sense, we probably dig a bit deeper than most<br />
other companies. Most other companies, they’ve<br />
probably got one boss, two bosses maximum,<br />
and a whole load of workers who are probably<br />
not paid properly, who are a bit disgruntled ...<br />
Whereas within a co-op… we try to treat each<br />
other really nicely.”<br />
Considering the challenges co-ops now face, a<br />
collective will to survive is needed more than ever.<br />
“We very much see ourselves as custodians of<br />
this business,” says Marsh. “It’s 52 years old and<br />
it’s been built on the back of the hard work of so<br />
many other people. The desire to pass that on in<br />
a good shape means we will dig deep and try and<br />
make things work.”<br />
WE VERY MUCH<br />
SEE OURSELVES<br />
AS CUSTODIANS<br />
OF THIS<br />
BUSINESS ...<br />
THE DESIRE TO<br />
PASS THAT ON<br />
IN GOOD SHAPE<br />
MEANS WE WILL<br />
DIG DEEP<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 43
Join in<br />
with<br />
Join In Live<br />
IT’S ONE OF THE<br />
BEST WAYS THAT<br />
I KNOW FOR<br />
DIRECTORS TO<br />
HEAR DIRECTLY<br />
FROM MEMBERS<br />
WHO, AFTER<br />
ALL, ARE THE<br />
ONES WHO OWN<br />
THE BUSINESS<br />
By Susan Press<br />
Co-op Group members and customers are being<br />
invited to take part in a national conversation<br />
about policy and priorities as mounting<br />
challenges face the country.<br />
For the first time since 2019, Join In Live is<br />
hitting the road, and meeting with members<br />
and customers in London and Glasgow.<br />
But although lockdown is over, some of its<br />
innovations remain: members still have the<br />
chance to contribute to the discussion via two<br />
online events on Zoom and make themselves<br />
heard as the Group gets to grips with the cost of<br />
living crisis.<br />
Board members, Group leaders and National<br />
Members’ Council (NMC) representatives will<br />
be present at every event to carefully listen to<br />
people’s views on the way ahead in difficult<br />
circumstances.<br />
Democratic projects and services manager,<br />
Simon Plunkett, oversees key events such as<br />
the recent Co-op AGM in May and liaises all year<br />
round with the NMC.<br />
He said: “These are clearly challenging<br />
times and one of the main roles of Council is to<br />
represent members and meet them face to face<br />
so they can give authentic feedback. That’s why<br />
events like Join In Live are very important.”<br />
“As usual, we will be keen to share the<br />
latest news about our half-yearly performance<br />
update, which is published every year in<br />
<strong>October</strong>. However, although we have an agenda<br />
it is all member-led, broad brush and not<br />
too prescriptive.”<br />
The online events are continuing because<br />
“they were so successful during the pandemic”,<br />
says Plunkett, with more than 200 people<br />
taking part.<br />
“It’s also important that people who can’t make<br />
it in person have a real say,” he adds. “Whether<br />
online or face to face, the Council was very keen<br />
that these events had a reporting focus, sharing<br />
updates from members of the leadership team<br />
about our performance and priorities, and there<br />
will also be an opportunity to share ideas about<br />
new community partnerships.”<br />
At live Q&A sessions, members and customers<br />
can put questions to board members on the<br />
Group’s recent performance and plans for<br />
the future, and there will be a round-table<br />
conversation between NMC members and<br />
Member Pioneer co-ordinators to pick up on the<br />
latest developments.<br />
Despite the economic challenges facing<br />
the Group, its customers and members, basic<br />
principles like tackling inequalities and climate<br />
change are still very much high on the agenda.<br />
Plunkett says: “Our 10-point climate plan<br />
will be very, very key to discussions. And our<br />
members are always interested in Fairtrade and<br />
how we can still live sustainably and affordably<br />
44 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
through the cost of living crisis, so we are keen<br />
to get their ideas on how the Co-op can help.”<br />
Join In Live has earned a formidable<br />
reputation as a real flagship event for the Co-op<br />
National Members Council, which works as the<br />
voice of ordinary members, meeting six times a<br />
year with various elected committees.<br />
Lesley Reznicek has been a Council member<br />
for over seven years and is currently one of the<br />
vice-presidents, for member participation and<br />
members’ voice.<br />
“It’s one of the best ways that I know for<br />
directors to hear directly from members who,<br />
after all, are the ones who own the business,”<br />
she says. “This event will enable us as the<br />
NMC to go back and hold the board to account,<br />
while at the same time hearing real concerns<br />
about issues like the cost of living crisis and the<br />
affordability of food.”<br />
She adds: “At sessions like the Q&A we will<br />
be feeding back the views of members who want<br />
a direct line to the board and to hold them to<br />
account for decisions that they feel concerned<br />
about or where they may feel they have got it<br />
wrong or want them to act differently.<br />
“As a member-run business, we are there<br />
to represent their interests and this is a real<br />
opportunity to do that.”<br />
The face-to-face events will be held in Glasgow<br />
at 10.30am on Saturday, 15 <strong>October</strong>, and in<br />
London at 10.30am on Saturday, 22 <strong>October</strong>.<br />
Online events are at 6.30pm on Monday, 17<br />
<strong>October</strong> and noon on Wednesday, 19 <strong>October</strong>. The<br />
latter will include live cooking demonstrations<br />
with easy, pocket-friendly recipes. New food<br />
products will also be available to sample at the<br />
live events.<br />
The Group says fair access to food and working<br />
to eliminate food waste as much as possible are<br />
top priorities, and the Join In Live events will<br />
feature news about the latest developments.<br />
These include a new partnership with Your<br />
Local Pantry, which supports communities<br />
across the country around access to cheap<br />
nutritious food via neighbourhood food clubs<br />
and hubs. The initiative is currently offering<br />
affordable food to more than 80,000 people in<br />
over 70 neighbourhoods across the UK.<br />
Another new initiative announced at the<br />
Group’s AGM is Caboodle, a <strong>digital</strong> platform<br />
that will connect supermarkets, cafés and<br />
restaurants with community groups and<br />
volunteers to redistribute surplus food. It’s still<br />
early days but this is expected to be rolled out by<br />
the Group later in the year.<br />
Kate Allum, who was elected as a Member<br />
Nominated Director just over a year ago, is<br />
particularly looking forward to the Glasgow<br />
event, where she hopes to meet as many<br />
members as possible.<br />
“As a Member Nominated Director living<br />
north of the border,” she says, “I’m keen to<br />
hear about those local issues that are important<br />
to Scottish members and how Co-op can offer<br />
solutions through its products, services and<br />
community offer.”<br />
Join In Live events are all free and open<br />
to everybody. Visit co-operative.coop/events<br />
for more information<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 45
The<br />
architectural<br />
legacy<br />
of Antoni<br />
Gaudi:<br />
His last, La Sagrada Familia;<br />
his first, a co-op<br />
LA SAGRADA<br />
FAMILIA HAS<br />
BECOME THE<br />
MOST VISITED<br />
SITE IN SPAIN<br />
By David J Thompson<br />
Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona,<br />
Spain, is the Catalonian architect’s most<br />
majestic and iconic gift to the world. In the eyes<br />
of his contemporaries, Gaudi was viewed as<br />
God’s architect here on Earth, and in 2010, Pope<br />
Benedict XVI designated it as a basilica for its<br />
religious importance.<br />
La Sagrada Familia (‘The Holy Family’) has<br />
become the most visited site in Spain, with<br />
7 million people a year coming to gaze at its<br />
facade and over 3 million people venturing<br />
inside. If all goes as planned, it will be the last of<br />
Gaudi’s buildings to be completed.<br />
Gaudi began building La Sagrada Familia in<br />
1882. Today, in <strong>2022</strong>, construction has continued<br />
on an almost daily basis for 140 years, yet only<br />
eight of the 18 spires Gaudi designed have been<br />
completed. If fully completed as planned in 2026,<br />
the tallest spire will rise to 560 feet, making it the<br />
tallest religious building in Europe. Following<br />
his respect for the magnitude of nature, Gaudi<br />
ensured that La Sagrada Familia would be<br />
one metre (three feet) shorter than Montjuïc -<br />
Barcelona’s tallest hill.<br />
Antoni Gaudi was born in 1852 in the rural<br />
province of Tarragona, Catalonia, and later<br />
attributed the critical impact of nature on his<br />
work to the years of his childhood spent in the<br />
countryside and on the long organised group<br />
hikes he took as a young man. These experiences<br />
also made him a lifelong champion of Catalonia’s<br />
unique language, culture and heritage. Gaudi<br />
saw nature as God’s teaching hand. “The straight<br />
line belongs to man, the curved to God,” he said.<br />
Moving to Barcelona in 1868, Gaudi studied<br />
utopian socialism and became intrigued with<br />
the communal architecture and way of life of<br />
the “phalanstère” of the French philosopher,<br />
Charles Fourier, where 500-2000 people live<br />
within a utopian building, working together for<br />
mutual benefit. Later, he studied the arts and<br />
crafts work of William Morris and the writings of<br />
John Ruskin.<br />
Gaudi also worked with Eusebi Gűell on<br />
creating a Garden City for Barcelona modelled<br />
after Ebenezer Howard, founder of the garden<br />
city movement. That land later became Park<br />
Gűell and retained the English spelling of<br />
‘Park’ as a tribute to the original plan. He joined<br />
numerous organisations which took pride in<br />
their Catalonian heritage and, filled with new<br />
concepts and ideas to promote Catalonia being<br />
known for its own architectural style, Gaudi<br />
went on to become the leading exponent of<br />
Catalan modernism.<br />
Although Gaudi graduated from the Barcelona<br />
Higher School of Architecture in 1878, he had<br />
already begun using his skills as an architect.<br />
In fact, Gaudi signed drawings for his first<br />
building that same year, a projected community<br />
for a worker’s organisation called La Obrera<br />
Cooperativa Mataronense. Set up in the nearby<br />
port city of Mataro in 1860, the organisation<br />
became a co-operative in 1864.<br />
From about 1877-1883, the co-operative<br />
employed Gaudi to design its complete ideal<br />
workers’ live-work community. Salvador<br />
Pages, the instigator of the co-operative and<br />
later a leader in the co-operative movement in<br />
Catalonia, wanted a co-operative community<br />
that unified the textile workers together in<br />
their 36 on-site homes, communal spaces and<br />
industrial workshops. Gaudi knew the purpose<br />
of these buildings was intended to magnify the<br />
lofty linkages of labour and life.<br />
Of Gaudi’s plans for the co-operative<br />
community, only two houses, the caretaker’s<br />
office, the restrooms, the chimney and the<br />
parabolic arched bleaching warehouse<br />
46 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
(completed in 1883) were built and occupied.<br />
Regrettably, the co-operative closed in the late<br />
1880s with few people at that time understanding<br />
the site’s architectural significance as Gaudi’s<br />
first buildings.<br />
It was not until 1999 that the city of Mataro<br />
took action to preserve what remained of the<br />
much-altered warehouse building, the chimney<br />
and the toilets, but it decided to demolish the<br />
remaining modified co-operative buildings.<br />
Because of the complexity of restoring the arches<br />
of the warehouse building to its former parabolic<br />
glory, it was not re-opened until 2008. In 2010,<br />
the building was given an additional valuable<br />
purpose by becoming the home of the Museum<br />
of Contemporary Art Consortium of Mataro.<br />
In 2013, on the 130th anniversary of the<br />
construction of the warehouse, Gaudi scholars,<br />
architects and Catalonian leaders gathered in<br />
the rebuilt and refurbished warehouse to adopt<br />
the Declaration of Mataro. The declaration<br />
committed the signers to, among other topics,<br />
“ensuring that Antoni Gaudi continues being a<br />
heritage that Catalonia shares with the citizens<br />
of the world”.<br />
However, La Obrera Cooperativa Mataronense<br />
was to play one other critical but sad role in the<br />
personal life of Gaudi. While working on the<br />
building plans for the co-operative, Gaudi fell<br />
in love with Pepeta Moreu, a talented teacher<br />
at the co-op. Pepeta was from a cultured family,<br />
well educated, up-to-date on current issues and<br />
progressive in spirit and action. Pepeta and her<br />
sister hand-embroidered the stylish art nouveau<br />
banner that Gaudi designed for the co-operative.<br />
Gaudi began to visit the Moreu family at their<br />
home close to him in Barcelona every Sunday.<br />
At one point, Gaudi asked Salvador Pages to<br />
inform Pepeta of his desire for courtship and<br />
then marriage. Moreu’s reply to Gaudi was<br />
devastating and life-changing; she could not as<br />
she had another suitor.<br />
By this time, the co-operative’s warehouse<br />
had been completed Gaudi’s work in Mataro<br />
was finished. Gaudi left the Moreu home that<br />
night, and never again returned to Mataro,<br />
never married and remained a celibate, brokenhearted<br />
bachelor for the rest of his life.<br />
Between 1882 and 1915, Gaudi completed many<br />
other architectural works, created especially for<br />
his patrons and friends, including Casa Milà<br />
(La Pedrera, declared a World Heritage Site by<br />
UNESCO in 1984), and Casa Battló. Although<br />
Gaudi earned an international reputation, most<br />
of his major works are found in Barcelona.<br />
From 1915 on, Gaudi gave his heart completely<br />
to God. La Sagrada Familia was Gaudi’s gift<br />
to the earth – but for him, the plans were<br />
commandments from above for Gaudi to turn<br />
into the Glory of God. Everything possible is<br />
being done to complete La Sagrada Familia<br />
by 2026. That date would coincide with the<br />
p Sagrada Familia<br />
Cathedral, Barcelona<br />
(Image: Vladislav<br />
Zolotov/GettyImages<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong> | 47
GAUDI BUILT<br />
LA SAGRADA<br />
FAMILIA FOR<br />
GOD, BUT HE<br />
DESIGNED<br />
LA OBRERA<br />
COOPERATIVA<br />
MATARONENSE<br />
FOR HUMBLE<br />
WORKERS AND<br />
THEIR FAMILIES<br />
q La Obrera<br />
Cooperativa<br />
Mataronense (Image:<br />
ESM/CC BY-SA 4.0)<br />
commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his<br />
death. No doubt, Gaudi will feel his life on Earth<br />
was of use if he sees God is pleased with the<br />
completed La Sagrada Familia.<br />
In 1915, Gaudi said, “My good friends are<br />
dead; I have no family and no clients, no fortune<br />
nor anything. Now I can dedicate myself entirely<br />
to the Church.”<br />
As La Sagrada Familia began to take form,<br />
Gaudi became consumed by the thought of<br />
fulfilling his legacy. Earlier in his life, Gaudi had<br />
been a young, fashionably dressed bon vivant.<br />
As years went by, his growing pious Catholicism<br />
played such an increasingly large role in his<br />
daily life that he became an aesthete, wearing<br />
clothes until they were threadbare. From 1925<br />
on, Gaudi slept nightly in a cot in the crypt below<br />
La Sagrada Familia.<br />
It’s possible that Gaudi’s strong commitment to<br />
Catholicism might have been what accidentally<br />
led to his death at age 73. On 7 June 1926, he left<br />
his studio at La Sagrada Familia to go for his<br />
daily walk to a nearby church for mass. While<br />
crossing the street, he was knocked over by a<br />
tram. Because he was elderly, and resembled<br />
a penniless beggar, he was dragged away from<br />
the tram tracks and left seriously injured on the<br />
pavement without receiving any assistance.<br />
With no identification on him, Gaudi lay<br />
unconscious for hours until some persistent<br />
Samaritans implored a Guardia Civil to<br />
commandeer a taxi to take him to a hospital,<br />
where he received limited care. By the time his<br />
colleagues found him, his serious condition had<br />
deteriorated so badly that additional care was<br />
fruitless and he died. Days later, the citizens of<br />
Barcelona bid farewell to him in the Chapel of<br />
our Lady of Mount Carmel within the crypt of La<br />
Sagrada Familia.<br />
And, yes, Gaudi built La Sagrada Familia for<br />
God, but he designed La Obrera Cooperativa<br />
Mataronense for humble workers and<br />
their families. His inspiring, gracious and<br />
unforgettable architecture honoured both his<br />
clients here on earth and above in heaven.<br />
David J Thompson is one of the most published<br />
writers in the USA about the co-operative sector.<br />
He has visited a number of Gaudi’s buildings<br />
in Barcelona and written about Spanish cooperatives.<br />
He has an MA in architecture and<br />
urban planning from the University of California<br />
at Los Angeles where he was given the Dean’s<br />
Award for Community Service. He is president<br />
of the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation and<br />
a member of the US Cooperative Hall of Fame.<br />
David has written and contributed to a number of<br />
books and over 400 articles about cooperatives.<br />
See npllc.org and community.coop<br />
48 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
www.cch.coop cooperative.housing #coophousing22<br />
Sustainability –<br />
rethink:reset’<br />
<strong>2022</strong><br />
14-16 <strong>October</strong><br />
<strong>2022</strong><br />
Chesford Grange Hotel<br />
Kenilworth CV8 2LD<br />
The 27th Annual Conference of the Confederation<br />
of Co-operative Housing is an opportunity for the<br />
co-operative housing sector to come together to<br />
discuss how we rethink the future and reset where<br />
we are going in terms of regulation, sustainability,<br />
net zero, and much more.<br />
The conference brings together over 120<br />
housing co-operators, community led housing<br />
professionals and those with an interest in<br />
housing co-operatives and other forms of<br />
community led housing from across England,<br />
Scotland and Wales.<br />
Please scan the QR code to find out more<br />
about the conference.<br />
Exhibitor<br />
opportunities<br />
Our exhibition stand packages<br />
range from £500 to £850,<br />
other options are:<br />
• Advert in our<br />
Conference Guide<br />
• Flyer or promotional item<br />
in conference packs<br />
• Bursary sponsorship<br />
• And more<br />
email: jane@cch.coop<br />
for more information<br />
and prices
DIARY<br />
Do you have a co-operative<br />
event – taking place in person,<br />
online, or as a hybrid – to be<br />
featured?<br />
Tell us at: events@thenews.coop<br />
Cooperative IMPACT Conference<br />
5-6 <strong>October</strong> (Washington DC and online)<br />
Under the theme “Forward, Together”<br />
NCBA CLUSA’s IMPACT <strong>2022</strong> will<br />
challenge co-ops to come together and<br />
capture a generational opportunity:<br />
applying the lessons of the past two years<br />
to our work as we move forward.<br />
bit.ly/3APetY4<br />
Co-op Party Conference<br />
8-9 <strong>October</strong> (Leeds)<br />
From Crisis to Co-operation: the Co-op<br />
Party’s annual conference will bring<br />
together members and supporters from<br />
across the co-operative and labour<br />
movements to learn more about its work,<br />
help shape Party policy and discuss<br />
priorities and campaigns.<br />
party.coop/event/annconf022<br />
Co-ops and social enterprises<br />
12 <strong>October</strong> (London)<br />
A session to better understand the terms<br />
Co-operatives and Social Enterprises and<br />
how to access resources available.<br />
bit.ly/3tUey9h<br />
CCH Annual Conference<br />
14-16 <strong>October</strong> (Warwick)<br />
The Confederation of Co-operative<br />
Housing will bring together the UK’s<br />
housing co-op housing sector under the<br />
theme Sustainability – rethink:reset<br />
cch.coop/cch-annualconference-<strong>2022</strong><br />
World Coop Management conference<br />
17-18 <strong>October</strong> (Brazil)<br />
Coonecta organises WCM<strong>2022</strong> as the<br />
world’s biggest co-operative sector<br />
management event, covering innovation,<br />
technology and practical learning for coop<br />
thinkers and leaders.<br />
wcm.coop/WCM22<br />
Cooperative Ways Forward<br />
20-21 <strong>October</strong> (Manchester)<br />
Over 150 co-operators will gather at the<br />
city’s Central Hall to share information<br />
and strengthen the co-operative networks<br />
that are needed to act on pressing issues<br />
including climate justice and how to<br />
build effective alliances to address the<br />
need for systemic change<br />
waysforward.coop/about/<br />
ICMIF Centenary Conference<br />
25-28 <strong>October</strong> <strong>2022</strong> (Rome)<br />
The ICMIF Centenary Conference will be<br />
hosted by the Unipol Group, an ICMIF<br />
founding member, in Rome, where the<br />
organisation was formed.<br />
icmif.org/icmif-conference<br />
Owning the Future<br />
4-6 November (Rio de Janeiro)<br />
Organised by the Platform Cooperativism<br />
Consortium, the event will look at how<br />
platform co-ops in the Global South can<br />
scale to successfully compete with large<br />
tech companies.<br />
bit.ly/3QbdExI<br />
Locality Convention<br />
8-9 November <strong>2022</strong> (Sheffield)<br />
Locality’s annual convention brings<br />
together people who believe in the power<br />
of community to explore how best to<br />
build thriving neighbourhoods and how<br />
policymakers can support this.<br />
locality.org.uk/events/<br />
convention-21-2<br />
Co-operative Women’s Voices:<br />
Tiziana O’Hara<br />
15 November (11am-12 noon, online)<br />
CWV is a series of monthly interviews<br />
with women from the global co-op<br />
movement. November’s guest is Tiziana<br />
O’Hara, from Northern Ireland’s<br />
Cooperative Alternatives.<br />
bit.ly/3SiYcAY<br />
Young people and the future of<br />
cooperation in Europe<br />
21 November (Cardiff)<br />
Cwmpas and Cooperatives Europe will<br />
welcome co-operators from across Europe<br />
to explore the role of young people in the<br />
co-operative movement.<br />
bit.ly/3DM2c8I<br />
Practitioners Forum<br />
23 November (Manchester)<br />
Organised by Co-operatives UK, the<br />
Practitioners Forum is a professional<br />
training and development opportunity,<br />
featuring specialist forums.<br />
bit.ly/3LCUHTz<br />
50 | OCTOBER <strong>2022</strong>
LEARNING AND NETWORKING<br />
FOR CO-OP PRACTITIONERS<br />
Wednesday 23 November<br />
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Manchester, M1 1FN<br />
Book your places now at<br />
www.uk.coop/pf
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